The Worst Is Yet To Come
by Devil917
Summary: With Soda in the hospital and Pony beginning to find trouble, Darry is informed that he is at risk of losing his brothers. SEQUEL TO TAKEN. NEW CHAPTER!
1. AUTHOR'S NOTE!

**OKAY, THIS IS THE SEQUEL TO **_**TAKEN**_ **. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT YOU READ **_**TAKEN**_** BEFORE YOU READ THIS . BUT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO , HERE'S THE MAIN POINTS IN THE STORY :**

*** DARRY GETS STRANGE PHONE CALLS FOR SODA. HE TRIES TO IGNORE THEM.**

***ONE DAY THEY DECIDE TO WALK INSTEAD OF DRIVE . ON THEIR WAY TO WORK , THEY ARE ATTACKED BY SOC'S . BASICALLY ALL OF THE SOC'S ARE AFTER SODA . THEY GIVE HIM A NEEDLE TO KEEP HIM FROM GETTING AWAY . **

*** THE SOC'S TRY TO RAPE HIM . TWO-BIT SAVES HIM.**

*** THEY WAKE UP IN A STRANGE ROOM. **

*** THEY FIND OUT THAT ALONG WITH IS INJURIES , THE NEEDLE THAT THE SOC'S GAVE SODA MESSED WITH IS MIND . HE CANNOT STAY AWAKE.**

*** AFTER A WHILE THEY DECIDE TO BREAK OUT . **

*** DALLY TAKES A KNIFE IN THE ARM TO SAVE TWO-BIT.**

*** DARRY STOPS TO CHECK ON SODA. DALLY GETS MAD . HE LEAVES.**

*** WHILE RESTING DURING THE NIGHT DARRY HEARS SODA CALL HIM . HE'S HALLUCINATING THAT HE'S BEING ATTACKED AGAIN. HE STOPS BREATHING. **

*** DARRY AND TWO-BIT MEET UP WITH DALLY AND THEY GO WITH A GUY WHO SAYS THAT HE'S GOING TO TAKE THEM HOME . **

*** DURING THE RIDE DARRY RECOGNIZES THEM MAN'S VOICE.**

*** THEY END UP HITTING A TREE. **

*** THEY END UP IN THE HOSPITAL. **

**NOW IF TAKEN SOUNDS INTERESTING TO YOU , PLEASE GO AND READ AND REVIEW . **

**ANYWAY , THE FIRST CHAPTER TO **_**THE WORST IS YET TO COME**_** IS JUST ONE CLICK AWAY . HIT THAT BUTTON . **

**PLEASE REVIEW !**


	2. Arrival

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Friday, 9:46 p.m..

Curtis Residence

I grabbed Darry's hand and helped him up. For the first time in a long time I realized that he was crying. Quickly he wiped the away and smiled at me. I grinned back and just prayed that everything would be all right.

" Come on. Let's go see Soda," he said. He put his arm around me and we walked out the door with our heads held high as we hoped for a better future.

We walked outside, closed the door and walked down the steps. In front of our house I spotted a white van. A man with dark hair sat in the driver's seat. He waited impatiently as he gazed ahead.

I sat in the backseat.

"How are you doing, son? What's your name?"asked the doctor.

"Ponyboy."I say even though i'm not in the mood to talk.

"Well hi Ponyboy. I'm going to take you to see your brother."

I nod, rest my head on the seat and pray.

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

Friday, 9:56 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital

Darry and I walk side by side through the doors of the hospital. I never liked hospitals. They always smelled like death. I've been in this place too much. I look at the people. Everyone looks sick and upset. Even the nurses and secretaries look like they don't want to be here. I don't want to be here either, but I need to see Soda.

We walk around a corner and walk into a huge waiting room. We follow the doctor up to the front desk. He walks behind the desk and search through the tan colored folders on the table.

" How do you spell his name?" asks the doctor without looking up from his papers.

"S-O-D-A-P-O-P,"answers Darry. He now placed his elbows on the counter and rested his chin on top of them.

" And his last name?"

" C-U-R-T-I-S."

The doctor looks puzzled for a second. His wildly scans through the paper for a second time.

" Hmm," he says softly. He bites his bottom lip, cocks an eyebrow and looks up at us. "I cannot seem to find it. Let me check with my nurse. Please take a seat." He gestured toward the black waiting chairs beside the desk.

With a sigh and a shrug Darry and I both make our way to the seats.

I watch the doctor as he walks back and forth a couple of times looking for his nurse. He looks down the hallway and spots her. Briskly he walks over and asks for the information. He stands there with is head slightly slanted while he listens to her, his hands in his white jacket pocket. While she's talking, she points to the desk and they both walk toward us.

"One moment," says the doctor. He and the nurse walk past us and to the files again. The nurse lifts a black binder and under that is another tan colored file. I can see at the top the name reads: Curtis, Sodapop.

" Okay. I see he's in room 322. He just got out of surgery. It went pretty smoothly. Nothing too major went wrong. Follow me. I'll tell you more in the room," states the doctor as he walks down the hallway.

It's going to be a long night.

_______________________________________________________________________

SO THAT WAS THE FIRST CHAPTER TO _THE WORST IS YET TO COME _.DID YOU LIKE IT?

ANYWAY, PLEASE REVIEW. YOU SUPPORT IS REALLY APPRECIATED.


	3. Treatments

Darry's Point of View:

Friday, 10:05 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 322

We followed the doctor into Soda's room. Outside of the door was a box with a clip board inside of it.

" Grab that for me?" asks the doctor without stopping. I reach up and take it from the bin. We enter Soda's room. He's laying on his back. There's a plastic cup that covers his mouth. It's helping him breathe. He has a white wrap that goes all the way around his head. Even though I cannot see it, I know his ribs are wrapped up. His right arm is a sling, but I know that it will come out soon because the doctor says it's not broken.

I hear Ponyboy gasp at the sight of Soda. I know he wasn't expecting to see him like this. I knew he was at least expecting to see him awake.

"Soda?"whispers Ponyboy. I hear him sniffle and I see him wipe his eye. He sits down in the chair next to Soda. The doctor and I make our way over to the small table in the corner.

"If you'll take a look at your paper, you can see everything that we found wrong with him. If you have any questions please ask," he states as he grabs his glasses from his jacket pocket.

The paper read:

Name : Sodapop Patrick Curtis

Age : 16

Sex : Male

Injuries include a fractured skull , concussion, sprained right arm, two broken right ribs, a punctured lung, unknown substance found, nerve damage and slight brain malfunctions.

Treatments are rest, clear fluids only, a sling for a sprained arm (keep elevated), wrapped mid-section, one stomach pump for unknown substance, and a nerve injection every other day. Visual and Audio treatment for nerve and brain evaluation.

I looked up from the paper.

" What is nerve injection?" I ask.

" Nerve injection is a small " shock" that we inject into his arm. It's used to recharge the nerve damage that was caused. It should get his nerves working properly."

"Will it hurt?"

"I'm not going to lie to you, Darrel. Nerves are used to feel pain so if we inject him with it, yes it will hurt. We aren't sure how much it will hurt him, but we won't know until we try, "states the doctor.

I nod.

"When will you try it?"I ask.

" Tomorrow we will insert a small amount and see what happens."

"Okay," I say.

Again I look at the paper. I skim it quickly.

"What's Visual and Audio treatment?"I question the doctor.

He explains that the treatments will be things like answering questions to evaluate his brain function and simple tasks like catching a ball for nerve evaluation. He might be asked to identify colors or tell a cat from a dog. I figured that should be easy enough. I hope he doesn't have a problem with that.

"When will you begin the Visual and Audio treatment?"

"Well if Sodapop wakes-,"

I cut him off.

" When." I say.

The doctor looks confused.

"Excuse me?"

" You said _if _he wakes up. And I'm telling you _when_ he wakes up. He will wake up. He's not a quitter, and he's not giving up." I say to the doctor.

I can tell that he had nothing to say. We have an awkward silence. Finally he speaks up .

" Oh!" he suddenly jumps. " I just remembered that you didn't finish all of your tests, Darrel. We need to do those immediately. Come along." he urged. I didn't have time to object.

"Darry can I stay here?!" yells Ponyboy form the chair to be just before i'm completelty out the door.

"Yeah! Be careful!" I yell back before I'm rushed down the hallway and into another room.


	4. What did I do?

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Friday, 10:34 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 322

I sit here holding Soda's hand. There is a wire going into his index finger. I have no idea what it's for. I listen to the constant beeping on the monitor that counts his heart beat. That's one beep I never want to stop. I also hear the almost silent blowing of air that came from the machine into his mouth.

" What happened to you, Soda? Huh? Nothing like this should never happen to you. Not you. It's not supposed to happen like this." I say out loud. I don't know if he can hear me, but I keep in talking anyway.

"I remember once when I was nine Darry made a promise to me. He told me that he would always protect me and he would make sure that nothing would ever keep us apart. He also told me that he told you something like that.

Once when you were six and he was ten some kid was messing with you. He pushed you one day after school and you hit your head on the ground and you started crying. Darry told me that he saw the whole thing and that he beat up the kid. He told you that he would never let anyone hurt you again. Do you remember that?

Well Darry kind of forgot about his promise, but don't worry, nothing is going to hurt you anymore. You're going to be just fine and then everything is going to go back to the way it was."

I sigh. I sit back in the chair and lay my hand on the chair.

Suddenly I hear people arguing outside. Quickly I turn around, my elbow hits the monitor and a loud beeping sound starts.

**BEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEP!** Went the machine.

My heart began to beep one thousand times a minute. What did I do?

Suddenly, like a stampede, a whole team of doctors and nurses rush into the room. One is carrying some paddle looking things.

I look up at the monitor. The machine that once showed a steady patterns was now slowly dissolving into a flat line.

What did I do? What did I do?

Out of nowhere, Darry runs into the room.

" What the hell happened now?" he asks with a small tear running down his cheek.

"Pony! What happened?"

I didn't know what to say.

" I. . . I . ." that's all I could say.

"Clear!"I hear the doctor yell. I see Soda's body shoot up like the mattress punched him in the back.

The line stayed flat.

What did I do? What did I do?


	5. Relief

Darry's Point of View:

Friday, 11:24 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Waiting Room

My hand twitched uncontrollably. My foot tapped in a steady beat. Ponyboy sat across from me. He cried his eyes out into his hands. I tried to comfort him but he says that he wants to be left alone. I want to believe that it's not his fault but I don't even know what happened. Ponyboy won't speak to me right now. I know he feels guilty beyond belief.

I see many doctors rush past but none is Soda's doctor. I wish he could come out and tell me if he's all right.

Like an answer to a prayer, his doctor comes from around the corner.

"How is he? Is he all right?"I ask.

The doctor nods. I feel my knees go weak and my heart sinks into my stomach. I felt so much relief.

"He's okay, Pony. He's okay."I whisper in Pony's ear. He begins to cry harder, this time I know it's because he happy.

"Can we go see him?"I ask.

" In a couple of minutes," he says. " The nurses are just checking him right now. I'll be back just as soon as they're done."

I thank him and take a seat next to Pony.

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Friday, 11:31 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 426

When Darry and I entered Soda's new room, I noticed that he looked the same. I don't know if that's good or of the machines look the same except for this time they had plastic cover over them.

I messed up tonight. Soda's doctor, who we now know as Dr. Hafford, said that when I turned around my elbow hit the off button on the machine. I don't know why the off button was so close to all the other buttons.

I moved to the far side of the room. I'm afraid to go near Sodapop. I might hurt him again. I feel Darry put his hand on my shoulder.

"Pony, don't be scared." he tells me.

I shake my head.

"Go talk to him Pony."

I shake my head again.

" I know he wants you to. Come on Ponyboy."

" I can't." I say.

I can tell that he's disappointed but he walks away from me. He sits next to Soda.

"What are you trying to do to me Soda? You trying to give me a heart attack or something? Please don't scare me like that again. I don't know how much more I can handle." I hear him whisper.

Looking around this room, makes me depressed. It has all white walls that have random pictures around it. Some of flowers some of birds. Soda's bed is in the middle of the room. He's covered with white sheets. There is a brown chair next to the bed that Darry sits in. On the other side of the bed is a table that is used as a trey for your food. Behind Darry is the machines. One shows a small animation of a heart that clicks on and off. Next to it says 96 bpm. Dr. Hafford told Darry that his heart rate was fast and that if it gets more than 98 bpm we should come and get him immediately.

Next to me a spot another chair in the corner. I take a seat. I don't take my eyes off Soda.

Feeling my eyes getting heavy I rest them.

Before I know it, I'm asleep.


	6. Good News, Bad News

Dally's Point of View:

Saturday, 9:19 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 902

I though I was in a dream, but when I woke up I saw that I wasn't. I'm still in this damn hospital. I want out. If they don't say that I can leave tonight, I'm going myself. I look over to the left and I find Darry sitting in the chair next to my bed.

"Didn't I tell you to get out?"I say.

"Yeah."

"So go. I don't want to see your face."

"Dally . . . "he starts.

"No. Don't Dally me. I'm done with you."

"Come on, Dally. Don't you remember what happened that night four years ago? Remember I found you one night in an alleyway just smoking. I asked you if you should be out by yourself and you told me to go to hell. Remember that? Then I wouldn't leave you alone so you decided to talk to me. Remember you were all tuff? A little thirteen-year-old from New York.

I asked you of you had parents and you told me that your dad didn't care and that your mom left you when you were seven. I asked you if you needed a place to stay and you told me to fuck off . I asked you again and you finally went with me . You slept on that couch that night . Remember?

When we offered you breakfast you said that you don't need anybody to look after you . I told you that no matter how many times you said that you didn't need anyone that I would still be there if you needed anything. Remember? And four years later here we are. Come on Dally, you can't throw for years of friendship away over a really bad week." he says to me.

I don't say anything to me.

"Dally." he states.

I still don't answer him. He puts his hand on my shoulder.

" Get out." I say softly.

"What?"

"You heard me. Get out. I told you, I'm done with you."

Darry gets up and slams the door shut.

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

Darry's Point of View:

Saturday, 9:30 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 908

I entered Two-Bit's room. I knew I shouldn't since I was so mad, but I needed someone to talk to. I don't think he's awake yet. Pushing open the door, I spotted him still in bed. Like Soda, he had monitors hooked up to him. They beeped with the constant sound of his heart beat.

Silently, I took a seat in the brown chair next to his bed. He had cuts on his face and hands from where the glass stabbed him.

"Hey." I heard him whisper.

Shocked,I looked down. His eyes were open, and he had a slight smile on his face.

"Hey. How you feeling?" I ask.

"Like we were attacked, got kidnaped, starved, left in the woods, then got into a car crash." he whispers back.

I chuckle. Two-Bit can always make me laugh.

"I'm glad you're not to hurt to make a joke."

"Never too hurt for that."

I smile.

"What's the matter with you? You look upset." he says.

"It's um, it's Dally. He's just mad at me right now and he's just making me crazy."

"You know how Dally is. He's getting too worked up about things. He's over-the-top with everything. Just give him time. He'll be all right."

I nod again. For a while we don't say anything to each other. We just enjoy each other's company. I broke the silence with a question I've been wanting to ask.

"Do you blame me for what happened?"I say.

Two-Bit doesn't answer. Instead he shrugs. That doesn't help. I want a straight out answer. Either a yes or a no.

I sit back in my chair and close my eyes.

"Darrel." I hear a voice call. I turn around and see Dr. Hafford standing in the doorway.

" I think Sodapop wants to see you." he says with a smile on his face.

"Soda?" I ask almost not able to believe it.

"Yes, hurry up. He needs to rest."

Like a flash of lightning I'm out of the seat and down the hall.

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

Saturday, 9:44 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 426

I rushed in through the door. Pony was still sleeping in the chair. The black sheet that I had put on him had been thrown to the floor. His pillow was at his side and his head rested on the top of the chair. I shook him awake.

"Pony! Pony! C'mon Soda's awake!"

He groaned and sat up.

"What?" he asked still half asleep.

"Sodapop's awake. Come on, we have to do this together."

Quickly he stands up. I place my arm around his shoulder, together we walk over. I run my hand though Soda's hair.

"Soda, wake up. Come on."

Slowly his eyes open. I couldn't believe it. Ponyboy smiled from ear to ear. I can explain the happiness on his face.

"Hey Soda." he says.

"W-who's Soda?" asks Soda.

I scrunch my eyebrows together in astonishment.

"You are." I say.

Soda looks down then back up at us.

"W-who are you?" he says.


	7. Memories

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Saturday, 10:06 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 426

I grab Darry's shoulder and pull him back toward the back of the room.

"What the hell, Darry. He doesn't remember us!"I say in a quiet yell.

Darry takes a deep breath, and rubs his forehead.

"Just stay cool, Pony. Go and find the doctor. We'll figure this out."

I nod and head out the door. First, I head for the front desk.

"Where's Dr. Hafford?! " I question.

The lady behind the desk gives me a dirty look. She pushes her hair back, sucks her teeth slightly, then answers, "He's seeing a patient right now. You're gonna have to wait. Please take a seat."

"I don't have time to take a seat! I need to see him now! What room is he in?"

"I'm sorry , I'm not authorized to tell you that information," she stated dryly.

I let out an aggravated deep breath, turned around and decided to search for him myself. I turned my head form left tot right. I looked in all of the rooms and didn't see him. Just when I was about to tell Darry that I couldn't find him, he came from a room down the hall. I run to him full speed.

"Dr. Hafford, I need your help right now!"

"What seems to be the problem, Ponyboy?"

"It's Soda. He doesn't remember us!"

"Let's have a look." he says. Dr. Hafford taps me on the arm and we walk down the hallway together.

As we enter the room, I see Darry sitting in the chair and he's talking to Soda. When he sees us, he jumps up.

"Dr. Hafford he doesn't remember anything."states Darry in a worried voice.

Dr. Hafford nods his head and we all walk over to Soda's bed.

"Sodapop?" Dr. Hafford says.

Soda doesn't even look at him until Dr. Hafford touches him on the shoulder.

"Do you know your name?"

Soda shakes his head.

"Do you know how old you are?"

He shakes his head again.

"Do you know what happened?"

"No." states Soda.

Dr. Hafford points to the chair by the bed.

"Do you know what this is?"

"A chair." says Soda.

Dr. Hafford nods. He places his hand on Darry's shoulder.

"Do you know who this is?"

"He says that he's my brother, but I don't remember."

He puts his hand on my shoulder.

" Do you know him?"

Soda shakes his head.

"He's your brother, too. His name is Ponyboy. He's younger than you are." answers Darry.

Soda just looks at him.

Dr. Hafford takes Darry and me by the shoulder and we walk toward the door.

" Maybe you should go home. Find things that might help him remember, things that mean a lot to him. Bring them here and we'll see what happens."

Darry nods.

"Come on Pony, let's go look."

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

Darry's Point of View:

11:01 a.m.

Curtis Residence

"Okay, let's get some good stuff. Things that really mean a lot to him." I say to Pony as we enter our house. I look around our living room.

"Can we bring him food?" asks Ponyboy from the kitchen.

" I don't know. Why?"

"I wanted to bring him eggs with jelly. It's his favorite."

I shrug. " You can try."

I scan the room. I suddenly find the best thing: a picture of Mom and Dad. I walk over and grab it. Looking at their picture really brings back great memories. Back when they were alive everything was great. Pony didn't have nightmares, Soda went to school, I played football, we were all happy. I miss those times. Now we're just a big mess of horrible things. I wish it would all end once and for all.

I place the picture in my pocket and head for him and Pony's room.

I open their door. Their room is a mess. Clothes and books are everywhere. You could easily tell that this was Soda's and Pony's room. Obviously all of the books were Pony's and all of the clothes had grease and oil stains on them.

What's something that could help him remember? I ask myself as I look around.

I find the first football that Soda ever got on the floor by the window. Right before this whole thing happened, we had a football game. Soda was upset because he didn't want to use his football, but we had to. Two-Bit couldn't find his. Soda didn't want to ruin the signatures him and Steve had put on there.

When Sodapop was seven and Steve was eight they both wanted to be professional football players. Soda said that he liked football because I liked football. One day, in the backyard they signed the ball and promised themselves that their signatures were going to be worth a lot of money one day. Soda's actually really good at football, he's good at any sport. I think he would have played in High School if he didn't drop out. Now he doesn't even think about football unless we plan a game. He's into fixing cars and flirting with girls now. I miss the old days.

I continue to look around.

I look at the desk next to their bed. I find a book called 'Brave'. I remember that Soda would read this to Pony. Every time he had a nightmare. I would always feel so proud of Soda because everyone knows that he hates to read but he would do it for Ponyboy. I can't count how many times I've heard him read it to him. I could tell that Soda didn't mind reading to Pony because he knew that it was making him feel better. I think that it wasn't the book that was making Pony feel better, I think it was he felt comfort in hearing Soda's voice; knowing that he wasn't alone. Pony would always fall asleep in the middle of him reading.

I grab the book and decide to take it.

I walk back outside to find Pony sitting on the couch. He's holding a plate in one hand and Mom's old apron in the other. She would always wear that apron when she would make up chocolate cakes. Soda loves chocolate.

"Are you ready to go?" I ask.

He nods.

"I sure hope this works." says Ponyboy.

"Me too," I say as we walk out the door and head back to the hospital.


	8. Almost,maybe, I don't know

Dr. Hafford's Point of View:

Saturday, 11:50 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 426

Darrel and Ponyboy should be returning soon. In the meantime I figured that I should run some simple tests on Sodapop.I shifted my eyes to Sodapop, I can tell that he's getting tired.

"Sodapop stay awake, okay?" I say to him before leaving the room.

I walked to the closet in the other office and grabbed the color chart. Before returning into Sodapop's room I examined it quickly. The chart read:

Red

Yellow

Red

Orange

Orange

Blue

Red

Green

Purple

Red

Black

When I return to the room Sodapop's eyes are beginning to close. Before they fall completely shut, I tap him on the arm.

"Sodapop, I need you to tell me what these colors are, okay?"

He nods sleepily. I hold the chart in front of him.

" Red. . . . yellow, red. . . . orange. . . ." his voice trailed off and his eyes fluttered closed.

"Sodapop."I say as I shake him a little. His eyes open back up sleepily.

"Can you continue?" I ask him.

He shakes his head no. I tell him that he can rest but only until his brothers get back.

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Saturday, 12:02 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 426

Darry and I walk into the waiting room. Darry goes to the front desk to tell the secretary that we are back to see Soda. I can see her nod her head and we walk in.

The doctor is looking at the monitors that are next to his bed. He writes down the numbers, turns around and spots Darry and me.

"How is he?"asks Darry.

Dr. Hafford shrugs, "Not really a major change."

Darry sighs. "So he still doesn't remember."he mumbles.

"You can show him the stuff you brought him if you would like. He's just resting right now. You can wake him up."says the doctor . He leaves the room.

Darry walks over first. He lays his hand on Soda's shoulder and shakes him a little.

"Soda."he says.

Slowly Soda's eyes open. He takes in a deep breath and looks up at Darry. Darry smiles a little.

"Do you remember me?"asks Darry.

Soda nods.

Darry's eyes light up.

"You do!"he asks again, but this time more cheerful.

"You were here earlier today."states Soda.

Darry sighs. "Oh."he says disappointedly.

"We brought you some stuff, Soda." I say. He looks over at me. "Things that might help you remember."

I walk over and hand him mom's apron. Its light purple with dark purple flowers on it. It has white frilly lace that goes around the perimeter of it. It still smells just like her and her cakes.

He looks at it.

"It's an apron."he says nonchalantly. He looks at me then at Darry with a confused look on his face. "Why are you giving this to me?" he asks.

"It was our mother's. Don't you remember it Soda? She used to wear this whenever she would bake for us."says Darry.

"I'm sorry."whispers Soda. He puts his head down. I can tell that this is really hard on him. I can imagine someone telling me who I am when I don't remember. I wish I could help him somehow.

Darry pulls a chair up closer to Soda's bed. He takes a picture of Mom and Dad out of his pocket. He hands it to Soda.

Soda stares at it for a while.

"I've seen them before."he whispers almost silently.

"Where?"I ask hoping he would talk about a memory he had of Mom and Dad.

"I don't know. . . . it's ,it's . . . . I can't explain it."he exclaims in frustration.

Darry puts his hand on Soda's back.

"Calm down, Soda. It's all right. Just take a deep breath and just say what you saw."

"Alright." he says. He starts tapping his hand on the bed. He always does that whenever he gets upset, he can't stop moving.

"It's kinda like a dream. I saw both of them, but I don't know where."Soda explains.

"What were they doing?" I ask.

"I-I don't know. They we like, just like . . . . I don't know. Can we stop now?"he pleads.

Darry nods. "Sure Soda."he says. "We'll try again later, whenever you want. Okay?"

Soda nods. He doesn't look at us though. I think he thinks that we're mad at him because he doesn't remember.

"I'm gonna go tell the doctor." informs Darry . He walks out the door.

Darry's Point of View:

Saturday, 12:23 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Hallway by Room 426

I walk out the door to go and tell Dr. Hafford about what Soda told us. I'm stopped by a woman in a suit. She carries a bunch of papers in her hand.

"Are you Darrel Curtis?" he asks.

"Yes."

"Please come with me,"he says.

"What's this all about?"

"It's about your brothers. Please, Mr. Curtis, come with me."she persists.

I let out a deep breath and follow her down the hallway.


	9. It's not me , It's the state

Darry's Point of View:

Saturday, 12:26 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital , Back Room

" take a seat."she says . She points to the chair as if I can't see it myself . I sit down and prepare myself for whatever's coming.

"You have two younger brothers , right ?"

"Yes."I say trying to stay as calm as possible.

"And their names are . . . ?"

"Sodapop and Ponyboy Curtis."I answer , still waiting for her to tell me what's going on .

She skims through her papers and pulls out two files . One of the folders has Soda's name printed on top and the other had Pony's name .

"Okay."she whispers .

"My name is Jessica Grand, I'm from the state of Oklahoma . I specialize in children living without their parents . I was assigned to come meet with you."Jessica says to me . Her face is happy but I can see that there is something that she isn't telling me right now.

"Um... okay ."

Jessica pushes her long brown hair off her shoulder , straightens her suit jacket and pushes in her chair .

"Let's get started."she says to me . "I have some questions about you and your brothers . I'm just going to ask you them and write your answers down on my notebook , okay?"sje informs me . She give me a fake smile , when I don't return the smile she looks down at her paper .

"What's your full name?"

"Darrel Curtis, Jr." I say to her . I hate this interview already and we just started .

Her pen moves to the paper and I see her write it down .

"How long have you been living with your brothers?"

"My whole life."I say , not seeing the reason for that question.

Jessica sighs and looks up from her paper , "How long have you been living with them without your parents?"she rephrases the question . I smile a little in her frustration .

"About two years."I say.

She writes it down .

"Please state your brother's full names and their ages."

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis , 16, and Ponyboy Michael Curtis , 14."

"Which one is the oldest?" she asks .

I just look at her in astonishment . Is she deaf?

"I just told you , Soda is ." I say . I know she can hear the irritation in my voice. I hate this woman.

She writes it down on her paper.

"Can you tell me how your parents died?"

"Car crash." I say.

She writes it down. She looks at her watch and jumps .

"Oh my,"she says. "I'm sorry , Mr. Curtis but I have to go ."

I stand up . "Okay , but before you do , can you tell me what all of these questions are for?"

She stands up also. "These are the updated folders for your brothers .The boys' home need to have the most updated record they can have."

My heart sank .

"Boys' home?" I say . "You're taking them away from me?"

She sighs. "Not me Mr. Curtis . The state."she says before she closes the door on me .


	10. Cry

Darry's Point of View:

Saturday, 12:37 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 426

I walked like a zombie down the hallway. My arms hung motionlessly by my side, everything seemed to freeze in time. How am I going to tell Ponyboy? I know he can't handle this. I dragged my feet along, my mind is telling them to keep going, to face my problems head on, but my heart is screaming for them to stop.

Reluctantly, I walk back into Sodapop's room. Inside I find Ponyboy resting his head on the side of Soda's bed. One of his arms is slung across Soda's stomach and the other is supporting his head. Soda's arm was around Pony. It amazed me that even though Soda still doesn't remember, that they still sleep like nothing ever happened. It breaks my heart to know that they don't have much longer with each other.

I take a seat in the back of the room. Wondering what I'm going to do about this whole situation.

"Well, how's every- . . . oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know they were sleep."said Dr. Hafford. His voice got softer with every word. He walked over to me and takes a seat across from me. He takes out a sheet of paper and we review my test results that I took the other day. Dr. Hafford talks and talks but my mind is elsewhere. I hear something about everything coming back all right and something about my blood pressure but soon I tuned him out.

"...... as soon as he improves a little you can take him home." finishes the doctor.

"Excuse me, what?" I ask, just now returning to the conversation.

"I said as soon as Sodapop improves some more and his nerves' fully return to normal, then you can take him home."He repeats himself.

I sight but don't say anything. I feel Dr. Hafford staring at me so I look up and meet his gaze.

"You don't seem too happy about taking your little brother home, Mr. Curtis. Is there a problem?"he asks with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

At first I wanted to tell him to mind his business; to leave me and me and my family alone, but I soon realized that he wasn't trying to cause any trouble, he's just worried so I take a deep breath and answer. " I am happy to take him home, happier that you'll ever know but . . . " I couldn't continue. Just the thought of them leaving me brings tears to my eyes, but I promised myself that I wouldn't let not one tear fall from my eye. I'm going to be strong for my brothers.

"But. . . ." urged Dr. Hafford.

"But, this lady came to speak to me today. She told me that the state might take my brothers away from me."I say. I squeeze my eyes shut and fight back tears.

_Be strong. Be strong, don't cry. Be _strong, I say to myself.

I hear Dr. Hafford sigh before he places a sympathetic hand on my back.

"If there is any way that I can help, please let me know." Dr. Hafford. I nod but don't look directly at him. With that, he gets up and leaves the room.

"What?" I hear someone say. I turn around and hear Ponyboy staring at me with tears already running down his face.

I quickly jump out my seat and over to them.

"Darry, how could you?"he asks through tears.

"Pony, I didn't do anything. It was the state." I explain to him.

He cries even harder. I pounds his head into my chest and cries even harder.

"You can' let 'em . . . you can't . . . "he cries into my shirt.

Cover him with my arms and pull him closer.

"You're not going anywhere."I whisper to him as we rock back and forth.

_______________________________________________________________________

_**I KNOW THIS CHAPTER IS SHORT BUT I WANTED YOU TO SEE PONYBOY'S REACTION TO HEARING THE BAD NEWS..........**_

_**ANYWAY, PLEASE COMMENT/REVIEW THIS CHAPTER ANYWAY . . . **_

_**THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT . . . **_


	11. Savoring Moments

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Sunday, 1:55 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 426

Darry told me the new yesterday.

Exactly thirteen hours, five minutes and a couple of second ago. I've been counting the time I've got left with my brothers. I think it's unfair what they're doing to us. I wish everything could just finally go right for this family. I wish we could just have one day go by when nothing bad ever happened.

It's almost two hours after midnight and I haven't slept for one minute since Darry told me that we might be leaving him. Soda and I might even get sent to different homes. What am I going to do then? I'll go crazy. I know I will. I'm not going.

I'm just sitting here thinking. You can make the world go anyway you want it if you think of it. Inside your head is the best place to be. No one can make you do anything you don't want to. Not even the state.

My legs are tucked under me and my arms are folded across my chest. I sit in the back of the room. I don't make a sound so I don't wake up Darry and Soda. I pull the blanket Darry gave me up closer to my chin and switch position in my chair.

I feel my eyelids getting heavier as my thoughts get deeper and deeper. I try and fight off this sleepiness but I soon realize that I am no match. Almost unwillingly, I fall asleep.

Darry's Point of View:

Sunday, 12:34 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Hallway

"So this is really happening, huh. You're really doing this to me and my brothers?"I ask in disbelief as the same lady from yesterday came to get copies of Soda's and Pony's birth certificates.

She flipped her hair off her shoulder and sighed. She shook her head no.

"I've said this once already, . I'm not doing anything but doing my job. I have no input on whether you get to keep your brothers or not. I'm sorry."she says without the slightest emotion in her voice.

"I know that it's not you. But do you know anything about this. Do you know how long we have or when they might be coming?" I ask, hoping this idiot knew something.

She looked at the papers she carried in her hand and roughly looked through them.

"Ummmm,"she begins. She still shifts through the papers. "I think they will be here in the next day or so to talk to you and your brothers, then you court dates may be in the next week or so."the lady informs me.

_I only have a couple of weeks with them?_ I think to myself.

"All right."I whisper and walk away.

I reenter Soda's room. He's away now ant Pony and I were thinking about showing him the things we brought him. I hope this time it goes much smoother.

I find Pony sitting next to Soda and they're having some kind of conversation, both of them are laughing. Soda says something to Pony and he cracks up. His face turns light red as he tries to catch his breath. Both of them look happy and cheerful. Too bad it won't be like that for too long.

I walk over and place my hand on Pony's back. He looks up at me.

"What did they say?" he asks. His eyes full of worry.

I take in a deep breath.

"Couple of day until they come talk to us, then a couple of weeks until we have to go to court, then we'll see what happens." I say to him. Trying, for Pony's sake, to stay as calm as possible.

We still haven't told Soda what happening yet. I don't think it makes much of a difference right now. He still thinks that we are just people who come to see him everyday.

"What about Soda,"I say. "How's he doing?"

"Great, Dar. He told me that he had a dream about Mom and Dad last night. Remember when it was my sixth birthday, and we had the party? Well, remember how Mom and Dad were going to surprise me with the big cake put the dropped it on the floor trying to bring it to me?" he asks, still looking up at me.

I nod.

"Well Soda says that he had a dream about the whole party. He told me everything that happened and everything. He's getting' better, Darry!"he says to me. I smile because he's smiling.

_I hope he's getting better._

"Does he know who we are?" I ask him.

"No."he answers quietly. " But he will Darry. He will."

"I know." I reply to him. I pull up a chair next to Pony and I begin to talk to him and Soda.

I wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying, I was just enjoying the last moments we have with each other.


	12. Vanished

Darry's Point of View:

Monday, 8:23 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 426

_The first thing I see when I wake up is that Soda isn't in his bed. I flip the blanket off me and jump off the chair. I run to the door and look for him. I can't find Ponyboy either. My heart raced as I ran down the deadly quiet hallway. No one is on this floor , it doesn't seem like anyone is in the hospital. _

_I can hear my heart in my ears . I still can't find them no matter where I look. _

_**What do I do? Where did they go?**__ I think to myself . I push open another door but is instantly disappointed when I don't find them. _

_I pick up speed now, panicking more and more each second they are not with me. I take in deep breaths and try to steady my breathing but I can't. _

_The only thing that can be heard is the sound of my feet hitting the floor. Everything else is completely silent and that worries me even more. I'm running out of places to look . I'm scared but I try hard to not let it show on my face. I need to stay calm if I'm going to find them. _

"_Pony! Soda!" I call out into the nothingness of the hospital. I don't get an answer. No one and nothing is around me except for the chairs in the hallway and the secretary's desk. I keep running down the hallway . _

"_Ponyboy! Sodapop!"I call again. This time I hear something. A noise ? A sound? A call? But I can't quite make out what it is. _

"_Pony! Soda!"_

"_Darry!"I hear a voice call. The voice sounds distant and scared. I think it's Pony. I stop my running and call again. This time I know it's Ponyboy. _

"_Where are you?!"I call to my brother's voice._

"_In here!"he calls back. _

'_**In here' could be anywhere, Pony. Be specific!**__ I think in my head , but don't say out loud. _

_I spin around in circle and still don't see him. _

"_Darry!" Pony calls again . His voice seems to get farther and farther away . _

_**I'm losing him!**__ I scream to myself. _

"_Where are you , Ponyboy!" I yell. _

"_I don't know! In a room! You have to help me , Darry. They have us!"he yells back._

_**In a room? What room?**__ I think to myself. _

_I run up and down the hallway one million times and still don't find them. Suddenly an idea pops into my mind........_

"_The back room!" I say to myself out loud . Like a flash of lightning I dash down the stairs and toward the back room. _

_I bust open the door and I find Ponyboy and Sodapop in the hands of four men . Two women stand in front of them . They both look like the woman who I talked to the other day. They looked exactly the same. _

_Pony and Soda struggled to get out the grasp of the two men but they held them back firmly. _

_**Why is Soda walking?**__ I think to myself as I completely enter the room. Without a word I charge toward them but I am stopped. In invisible wall is blocking me from my brothers. The men and the two women clones burst out laughing. I try harder and harder but am getting no where. _

"_Oh Darrel, you're so funny. Did you think that we were going to let you actually __**keep**__ your brothers?"asked one of the clones. She chuckles again . "Why would we let you keep them? Obviously you cannot support them. You aren't fit to look after anyone but yourself. You're a failure, Darrel . That's why the state ordered for you brothers to a boys home in New Jersey. As far away as possible!"_

_My heart dropped to the floor. The air was punched out of me. Everything stopped. _

"_Please......don't......"I try to speak but I can't . I have so many emotions flowing right now that I cannot even find the words to speak. _

_The people laugh again and begin to walk away with Soda and Pony who still tried as hard as they could to get to me. _

"_Darry! Darry, don't let them! Darry you promised!" I hear them yell as they are pulled away. _

_I blink for a second and they disappeared. Vanished into thin air. But I can still hear them , like their voice is echoing in my head. _

_I move slowly and reach out . The invisible barrier is no longer there and I am free to roam the room . Outside I hear screaming ,cries for help. I run to the window and look down. I see Soda and Pony being carried into the car. They do everything to try and stop it but it's almost impossible, they aren't strong enough to fight off four grown men. _

_I bang on the window. _

"_NO!" I yell . _

_They are in the car now. Both have tears running down their face . Just like me they bang on the window, crying out for me . Needing me to come and save them but I can't . _

"_Darry! Darry!" I hear them yell but it's getting harder to hear. Their voices are slowly fading. _

_I hear the car start and see it drive away. _

"_NO! DON'T!" I scream but I no it's no use. There is no way I'm getting them back. _

_I see the car drive away and then vanish behind the fog . _

_I lost them forever........._

_**________________________________________________________________________**_

_**OKAY.........I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE SO I'LL TELL YOU ANYWAY. THIS IS DARRY DREAMING ABOUT SODA AND PONY GETTING TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM. SO ACTUALLY THEY DIDN'T GET TAKEN AWAY...........YET (HAHAHAHAHAHA)**_

_**ANYWAY, PLEASE REVIEW THIS CHAPTER AND ANY OTHERS THAT YOU DIDN'T REVIEW BEFORE. **_

_**AND PLEASE CHECK OUT MY TWO OTHER STORIES **__**TAKEN**__** AND **__**FEAR.**__** PLEASE REVIEW THOSE ALSO...........**_

_**THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!!**_


	13. PARDON THE INTERRUPTION

_**SORRY FOR THE INTERRUPTION IN THE STORY BUT I HAVE A QUESTION FOR ALL OF YOU......... (I BET YOU THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS ANOTHER CHAPTER .....* LAUGHS* SILLY READER , SILLY READER *LAUGHS AGAIN*)**_

_**I DON'T KNOW IF I SHOULD ACTUALLY HAVE SODA AND PONY GET TAKEN AWAY FROM DARRY. I ACTUALLY HAVE THREE THINGS IN MY MIND THAT CAN HAPPEN. **_

_**ONE- THEY CAN GET TAKEN AWAY IN THE END AND I CAN WRITE A NEW STORY ABOUT THEM IN A BOYS HOME AND DARRY TRYING TO GET THEM BACK..........**_

_**TWO- THEY CAN STAY WITH DARRY BUT ONLY ON CERTAIN CONDITIONS . ONE OF THEM BEING THAT SODA HAS TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL WHEN HE GETS WELL ENOUGH, AND I CAN WRITE A NEW STORY ABOUT THAT AND THE TROUBLES HE GOES THROUGH ADJUSTING TO SCHOOL AND NOT WORKING. ALSO, WITH HIM GOING BACK TO SCHOOL THERE WILL BE MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE , AND MAYBE AN UNEXPECTED LOVE CONNECTION.........(HAHAHAHAHA)**_

_**THREE- HE GETS TO KEEP THEM AND I DON'T KEEP WRITING.**_

_**ANYWAY, THE CHOICE IS UP TO YOU. I CAN WRITE ABOUT ANY OF THE THREE CHOICES . SO COULD YOU PLEASE REVIEW AND WRITE THE ONE YOU WANT THE MOST WITH A REASON , MAYBE YOU CAN WRITE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO HAPPEN IN ONE OF THE SUGGESTIONS. **_


	14. What?

I'M BACK!!!!!! DID YOU MISS ME????

HERE'S THE NEW CHAPTER………..

______________________________________________________________________

Darry's Point of View:

Monday, 9:00 a.m.

Tusla Hospital , Room 426

I wake up quick, my heart is racing. I feel sweat on my face. I look around the room , quickly I am relieved when I see Soda lying in his bed asleep and Ponyboy in the chair next to the bed.

_Relax . They're still here._ I say to myself.

My mouth is dry and my brain is moving in slow motion. That nightmare really pulled something on my brain . It felt so real , like I was right there in the dream. I really felt the wall that came between me and my brothers . I could have sworn that I heard the cries from Pony echoing down the halls. I could hear the pounding of Soda and Pony as they banged on the window , pleading for me to come and save them.

But I'm so grateful that it was just a dream.

"Hey , Dar," says Ponyboy. He yawns and stretched his arms above his head.

"Hey Pony. How you doin' today?" I ask him. I stand up . My legs and arms are stiff.

He shrugs and stands up , too.

The room spins a little and I sit down .

"Darry? You okay?" asks Pony with concern in his voice.

I just nod and walk out the door even though I still feel a little dizzy. I need some time to think and get my head straight.

******

I walk into the bathroom and head to the sink. I run cool water over my hands and splash it on my face. I let out a deep breath and look at myself in the mirror. I have bags under my eyes , I look like hell. I leave the bathroom and head back towards Soda's room.

I turn the corner and I run into that bitch again . She till has on the same outfit as before .

_Does this woman ever change her clothes?_

"Good morning, Mr. Curtis."

"There's nothing good about this morning, especially because I ran into you." I snicker at her. Actually, I don't men to be so mean and snotty but I just know that she's only going to tell me bad news and I don't need bad news right now.

"Umm……okay." she starts . " I was told to tell you that your court date is Friday. Both of your brothers will have to tell why they want to stay with you , you have to tell the court why you should get to keep your brothers and you can also have people speak on your behalf supporting you." she explains .

I nod and begin to walk away.

"Good luck, Mr. Curtis." I hear her yell to me .

*******

I don't know how the hell I ended up at Dally's door but I'm here now. My mind said that I was going to Soda's room but my feet went to Dally's room.

I open the door. He's sitting at the window smoking out of it. He's still mad at me, I can tell by the way he watches my every move as I come closer to him.

"Hey Dal,"I say.

"I thought I told you to get lost."

"You did , but there's something I got to tell you," I say to him.

He doesn't say anything to me.

I move closer to him.

"Dally, it's serious." I say to him.

He looks back at me but doesn't show the slightest bit of interest in what I'm about to tell him.

"I just talked to the state ….." I begin.

"And?" he questions in a bitter tone.

I hesitate for a second. It still hurts to even say it.

"They want to take them away. They want to take Soda and Pony."

For a second I saw his face soften and his eyes were hurt and gentle but in that same second they went back to being mad and not caring.

"Tell them I said bye."

I froze.

"What?" I ask in astonishment .

"You heard me." he says as he turns back toward the window.

I understand that Dally is mad at me for putting him through all that happened , but he doesn't understand how guilty I feel everyday. He doesn't see me heart break a little every time I see Soda with the breathing machine and the cuts and bruises . I know that he may be traumatized right now ;we all are, especially Soda , but he cannot take it out on us.

I truly cannot believe that he doesn't even care that I'm losing Sodapop and Ponyboy. I know that he's mad but I didn't think that he would let his anger get in the way of out friendship . I always thought that I could count on Dally to back me up , especially if something like this happened. But I guess I can't.

Without a word I got up and left.

******

I walked down the hall to Two-Bit's room. He's sitting in his chair just staring at the floor. His face looks better, just a few cuts here and there but his hands are still pretty bad.

"Hey." I say to him . I take a seat on the bed.

"Hey, how's Soda doin'," he asks.

"I don't really know. I know he's still in pain , and I know that he still doesn't fully remember us , he just remembers the past but he can't connect the past with the present , you know?" I respond to him.

He nods.

I take in a deep breath.

"There's something that I have to tell you." I say.

He looks at me .

"I talked to the state and they said that they want to take Pony and Soda away from me."

"Oh my God."

"Yeah , and I was wondering if you could come to court with us and just explain why I should get to keep them." I ask.

"Yeah , of course." he answers without hesitation .

I smile at him and he smiles back.

I'm glad that I at least have one true friend.

Two-Bit reaches up and places his hand on my shoulder.

"Everything's going to be okay, Darry."

______________________________________________________________________

**OKAY! SO THAT WAS THE CHAPER. DID YOU LIKE IT? WERE YOU SHOCKED AT WHAT DALLY HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE BAD NEWS? WELL PLEASE REVIEW…**

**MY CHAPTERS MAY NOT COME AS QUICKLY AS THEY USED TO BECAUSE MY COMPUTER LITERALLY BROKE IN HALF AND THE SCREEN IN CRACKED. I DON'T KNOW WHEN I'LL BE ABLE TO UPDATE AGAIN SO JUST LOOK OUT FOR IT……..**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!**


	15. Hey! I know you!

Two-Bit's Point of View:

Monday,9:30 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 908

"I talked to the state and they said that they want to take Soda and Pony away from me," said Darry. He looked down at the floor as he tapped his hand on the bed. He looked tired, like he hasn't slept in days. I can tell that he's really worried and is only going to get worse.

"Oh my God." That was all I could say. I never imagined that Soadpop and Ponyboy leaving was a possibility. I always thought that Darry would have them until they grew up and moved away. Darry was always so good to them. He doesn't deserve this.

He takes a deep breath. He has to tell me something. I know he does but he's afraid to ask. He bites his lip then looks at me.

"Yeah," he starts off, "and I was wondering if you would come to court with us and just explain why I should keep them. I know you might not want to do it but. . ."

"Of course," I say before he goes any farther.

A smile comes over his face and I see that a little weight as came off his shoulders.

"Everything's going to be okay, Darry," I say to him. He just nods.

"Thanks," he whispers.

The room becomes silent again. Darry stares at the floor and so do I. I wait for a while before I ask him what Dally said.

"Um, did you talk to Dally yet?" I ask.

He sighs. "Yeah," he says , still keeping his head down.

"What did he say?"

"He told me to tell them good-bye."

"What?"

"That's what he said. Apparently he doesn't care about them anymore. All of a sudden he wants them out of his life. I guess he doesn't want anything to do with them anymore. I don't care," he says .

I feel so bad for him.

"Why is Dally acting like this? He's acting like you planned for everything to happen to us. He needs to get over himself. That bastard." I say. Dally's really pissing me off lately. He is so stubborn.

The room gets quiet again for a minute.

"Do you want to take a walk?" asks Darry.

"Sure," I say, "Where we going?"

"I want you to come see Soda."

I smile.

"Sure."

*****************

Sodapop's Point of View:

Monday, 9:56 a.m

Tulsa Hospital, Room 426

"Soda." I hear some one say.

_Why don't these people understand that I'm tired._

"Soda." They say again . I feel some one touch my forehead .I sigh and open my eyes even though I don't want to.

At first the image is blurry, But when it comes into focus I see Darry, the guy who says he my brother, and Two-Bit.

"Hey Two-Bit," I say to him. My voice is low, I'm tired.

He smiles.

"Soda," says Darry, "You know who he is?"

_Why wouldn't I know who he is?_

"Yeah, should I _not_ know him?" I ask.

"No, no, you should, I'm just happy," he says.

Darry takes a seat next to me.

"Do you remember me?" asks Darry.

"Kind of."

"What do you remember?"

_Can't you see I'm too tired to do this right now?_

I take a deep breath and relax, just like the doctor told me to do. I close my eyes for a second to gather my thoughts.

"I know that you ran past Mom and Dad that day of the party and made them drop the cake. I know that you used to play football, and I know that you come to see me everyday." I say to him , wishing that that would be enough so I can go back to sleep.

"How'd you know that I used to play football?"

"Ponyboy," I respond before closing my eyes again .

I feel Darry's hand run through my hair. "You can't go to sleep, yet. I want to ask you some questions. I want to get you ready for court."

"Court? Why are we going to court?"

He sighs. He places his hand on my shoulder.

"I don't know how much this is going to mean to you right now, but the state is going to take you away from me. You might not see me after a few weeks, so you, Ponyboy, Two-Bit, me, and maybe Johnny is going to tell the judge why you two should stay with me. Do you understand?" he asks me.

I wasn't really paying attention. I'm so tired and it's so early, all I want to do is go to sleep.

"Yeah, I get it," I tell him.

"Okay, you ready?"

"Sure."

He smiles.

"How old are you?"

I think for a second. _How old did the doctor say I was? Think Soda , think. Oh, I remember……_

"Sixteen," I say.

Two-Bit and Darry smiled at me.

"How long have you lived with me without Mom and Dad?"

_What?......_

"You guys didn't tell me that yet."

"It's been about two years," says Darry to me.

I yawn.

"You tired Pepsi-Cola?" asks Darry.

_What did you just say………. Are you talking to me……._

"Huh?" I say , still not exactly sure if he was talking to me.

He laughs a little.

"Sorry," he says, "It's a nickname I call you. What I meant to say was: are you tired, Sodapop?"

I yawn again , and I don't have to say anything he just smiles and walks out the room.

"Get some rest," he says to me before leaving the room with Two-Bit.

Darry's Point of View:

Monday,10:18 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Hallway by Room 426

I power walk over to the front desk.

"Where's Dr. Hafford and I don't want to hear any shit about you cannot tell me that information." I demand.

Looking shocked , she tells me that he's in room 324.

Two-Bit and I walk to that room. is just coming out the room .

"I need to talk to you." I say.

"Sure."

"Sodapop can remember Tw-… I mean Keith , but he still can't remember me and Ponyboy."

"Are you sure he knows who Keith is?"

"Yeah he said his name and I didn't have to tell him. I don't understand why he can remember old memories and his friends but he can't remember his family."

looks at Two-Bit then at me again.

"This might sound a little weird but when someone loses their memory like your brother did, they usually find it hard to remember the ones who they are with the most. Now, studies haven't showed exactly why yet , but he will remember you . Just give him time," says .

I place my hand on my head in frustration.

"You don't understand that I don't have time. I need him to remember everything by the time we have to go to court or there is no chance that they are staying with me."

"I understand your problem but you cannot rush Sodapop , it's only going to make it harder for him to remember."

I sigh and look at Two-Bit.

"Alright."

Two-Bit and I walk away.

"Do you want me to walk you back to your room?" I ask.

"Yeah."

We begin walking back when suddenly Two-Bit stops walking.

"Darry….."he starts.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Where's Pony?" he asks with a skeptical look on his face.

My eyes go big , without a word I go running.

**YAAAAAYYYYY! I UPDATED!!! I'M AT MY COUSIN'S HOUSE SO I WAS ABLE TO. DID YOU LIKE IT? DARRY HAS ANOTHER PROBLEM…… HE CAN'T FIND PONYBOY. WILL THE PROBLEMS STOP? **

**ANYWAY………PLEASE REVIEW/!!**

**THANK YOU!!**


	16. Run, Pony!

HI!!!!!! DID YOU MISS ME???

HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER……..

________________________________________________________________________

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Monday, 10:07 a.m.

The streets of Tulsa

I left the hospital about fifteen minutes ago. I know I shouldn't have but I had to get out of there. I couldn't watch Soda struggle to remember , I couldn't see the pain in Darry's eyes every time he looks at me and Soda together. I hate the sound of the hospital because all you hear is beeping of the machines and the footsteps of people as they walk by.

I went to go and see Two-Bit before I left . He was sleeping when I went in . His hands are still wrapped from the car crash, but his face had improved a lot. I hope he gets better.

When I left his room I went to the guy who helped kidnap Soda and everyone else. He still lay there , he look like he's about forty years old. He is starting to bald on the top of his head. His hands are at his side and he just lying there, just like Soda does. He just lays there.

Right now I'm walk down the sidewalk. Deep down I know that I shouldn't be walking around alone but frankly I don't care . I have too much to worry about right now. I shove my hands in my pocket and continue to walk.

As I continue to walk down the street I can see my breath from into white clouds in front of me.

_I should have brought my jacket._ I think to myself.

I walk across the road and turn the corner . There I see Johnny just sitting there. He had his head down and his whole body is shaking. I don't know if it's because he's cold or because he crying.

I walk up to him and take a seat. He jumps a little but then instantly calms down when he sees that it's me and not some Soc to come and rip his head off.

"Hey Johnny."

"How ya been, Ponyboy?" he asks me . He still keeps his head down.

I shrug even though he doesn't see it.

"What's the matter?" I ask.

"Too many things," he says.

"Can you tell me?" I ask.

He wipes his eyes and wraps his arms around his self.

"I'm thinking about what's gonna happen to me when I get home. I'm hoping that Soda, Two-Bit, and Dally will be okay. I hope that you're alright . Are you okay Pony?"

All of his thoughts spit put his mouth at once.

"I'm not doing too good, Johnnycake."

He sits up more and looks at me. I see that he has a black eye. I don't ask about it because I already know what happened. It was his Dad, if it was anyone else he would have told me about it already.

"The state wants to take me and Sodapop away," I say. This time I feel like crying.

Johnny can't say anything.

I try to be strong because if Johnny sees that I'm upset he might start crying then I might start crying, and two boys crying , sitting in the dirt isn't pretty. So I take in some deep breaths and make sure I don't let my fears get the best of me. I place my hand on Johnny's shoulder.

"But it's going to be okay. Darry will take care of everything. He will never let anyone take Soda and me away from him."

Johnny just nods.

"You want to take a walk?" I ask him.

"Why?" he asks.

I shrug.

"I just feel like I have to keep moving," I say to him . I stand up and he does the some. We begin to walk.

Johnny's Point of View:

Monday, 10:29 a.m.

The streets of Tulsa

"Do you want to take a walk?" Ponyboy asks me.

I don't want to go anywhere right now.

"Why?" I ask.

He shrugs.

"I just feel like I have to keep moving," he says to me .

He stands up and I do the same.

We walk in silence for a while.

I hear a car come up behind us. I turn a round and see four Soc's chasing us.

"Run, Pony!!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA DO YOU SEE SOMETHING SIMILAR??(LOL)

ANYWAY, REVIEW THIS CHAPER AND I HAVE 2 KEEP REMINDING YOU TO CHECK OUT MY OTHER STORIES _TAKEN_ AND _FEAR_.

I WILL UPDATE AS SOON AS I CAN .

THANKS FOR BEING SO PATIENT WITH MY UPDATES.

PLEASE REVIEW!!!


	17. Flames , Names, and Automobiles

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Monday, 10:34 a.m.

Running

I kicked my legs harder and harder. I was happy at that moment that I ran track but upset that Johnny didn't. He was going to get tired soon. By then the Soc's will have us already. I looked for a way to run. Behind us I hear the Soc's laughing at us.

They are back in their car and they are driving just fast enough to keep up with us. I hear named being called at us.

"Grease head!"

"Filthy Grease Ball!"

"Run, Grease Monkey, Run!"

All of them were followed by laughter. I felt anger almost overcome my fear. I hated those names but I loved my life more. I wasn't going to risk it by yelling back.

I look to my left . Johnny's face was red like a tomato. He strained to catch his breath but he kept close enough to me. I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be all right, that we were going to get away and probably laugh about this one day when we're older but I couldn't find the strength. Instead I gave him a hopeful look as we ran and he nodded a little.

I could see the park from here. I wanted to stop there but there was no where to hide.

_Vroom! Vroom!_

They're teasing us. They're pretending that they are closer than they actually are. They like to see us panic.

"I'm gonna get you!"

"Better run faster!"

"You want a haircut, Greaser?"

"How 'bout a throat-cut, huh?"

"Come here!"

They're still yelling at us. Chanting things to make us scared. I ignore them and keep running. As for Johnny, every time they yell something he flinched a little. From the corner of my eye I see him slow down a little.

"C'mon Johnny! Run!" I yell at him.

He picks up speed a little but not by much.

I hear the car tires get closer and their voices sounded as if they were screaming right in my ear.

I put my head down and continue to run. We turn a corner and are now running down an alleyway. There is a brick wall to the left of me and a fence that's two times as tall as me to the right.

Johnny is really losing speed. I'm really tired. We have been running for about ten minutes straight. I know that the Soc's don't actually want us or they would have got us by now. They slow down then they start to get too close or start to pass us, and the speed up when they fall too far behind.

"Do it, James! Do it!" I hear someone yell. I think it's the driver but I don't look back to see if my guess is right. The car speeds up a little and they come dangerously close to us. A little closer and they could literally run us over. I gasp slightly but force my slowly dying legs to keep moving. I hear Johnny cry out a little. I grab his jean jacket to make sure me and him stay together.

"Do it now!" I hear. I don't want to know that they are going to do. I look over . Johnny has a scared look in his eyes, but he keeps running with me.

Drops of water come down on us. I look up. It isn't raining.

More drops of rain fall on me.

I force myself to look back even though I don't want to.

I see a Soc' hanging out the car. He's throwing liquor or something on us. I hear the whole car light up with laughter.

More drops.

"Now let's see how fast these little Greasers can run."

I hear a swiping sound then I smell smoke. I look back. The Soc in the passenger seat is tossing lit matches out the window. They fall right next to us. I soon realize what they are doing.

They're trying to set us on fire!

"Run, Johnny! Faster! Faster!"

I could see the flame as it left his hand and fell next to our feet.

We came to the end of the alleyway. We went right and they went left. We kept running and didn't look back but I could tell that they were leaving.

"You can run but you can't hide, Grease Balls!"

"We'll be back for you!"

"Don't stray too far Greasers!"

Those were the last words we heard from the Soc's before we turned another corner and tried to catch our breath.

I think we're safe.

OKAY! THAT WAS THE CHAPTER WITH PONYBOY AND THEIR ESCAPE.

I WAS ASKED IT STEVE WAS GOING TO BE IN THIS. AND THE ANSWER IS YES. I WILL. I WILL PROBABLY PUT HIM IN SOON.

I MADE A MISTAKE IN _TAKEN_. I ACCIDENTENTLY ADDED HIM IN THE STORY. I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT. I CATUALLY DIDN'T REALIZE IT. I MUST HAVE TYPED HIM NAME MY MISTAKE. ANYWAY, IF YOU CHECK OUT _TAKEN _NOW YOU WILL SEE THAT I TOOK HIM OUT, AND ADDED THINGS TO THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS AND I REVISED THEM AND TRIED TO TAKE OUT AS MUCH MISTAKES AS I COULD.

ANYWAY, SORRY FOR ALL THE EXTRA WRITING, BUT I HAD TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE CHANGE IN THE STORY.

PLEASE, PLEASE , PLEASE REVIEW THIS CHAPER AND THE NEW AND IMPROVED CHAPTERS IN _TAKEN_ !!!


	18. Locked

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Monday,10:46 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital

Johnny and I stepped into the elevator and I pressed the number three. I watched as the gray doors slowly closed and left me and Johnny alone inside. I moved to the back and leaned against the railing that was attached to the wall. Johnny shifted uneasily on his feet as he stared at the ground.

I let out a deep breath and he did the same. The whole elevator ride was an awkward silence. When the bell finally beeped to let us know what we had reached our floor I felt slightly relieved.

We both stepped out and walked down the white hallway. Chairs and sick people were lined against the wall like pictures in a hallway. We turned the corner and headed for Soda's room.

"Man, I hate this place. It gives me the creeps," says Johnny. He fixes the collar on his jean jacket and tucks his shirt in.

We continue to walk.

"Ponyboy! Ponyboy!" I hear someone call. I turn around to see Darry jogging down the hallway. Two police officers are walking behind him.

"Ponyboy, where have you been? I've been worried sick about you," he says to me. He pulls me into a quick hug before heading back to the police officers.

"Is that him?" the taller one asks.

Darry nods.

"Thank you for all of your help. It was really appreciated," says Darry. He shakes hands with both police officers and they turn around and head for the elevator.

As Darry makes his way back over to us he had this look on his face that I can't describe. He looks upset and mad at the same time. I can tell that he was scared for me but I can see in his eyes that he wasn't crying. When he was talking to me earlier his voice was soft and quiet which means that he was yelling a lot earlier. I know he's disappointed in me and I will get a lecture some time between now and the next three minutes.

Darry takes a deep breath and runs his hand through his hair.

"Ponyboy," he starts. "I know that you're expecting a huge lecture or some type of punishment for this stupid stunt that you just pulled, but I promise that you're not," he tells me.

I smile, happy that I finally got away with something and turned and began to walk away. I didn't get far, though. I felt Darry's strong hand pull me back to where I was once standing.

"I didn't say that I was done."

I stay quiet and listen.

"Do you understand that what you did way stupid?" he asks.

I nod.

"Ponyboy, you can't just go walking around. You can't just leave whenever you want, especially without telling me. Pony, I know that you're growing up and that you think that you shouldn't have to tell me every little thing that you do, but you do. I know that you think that I'm overprotective with you and Soda, especially you--."

"I just don't get why you can't treat me like you treat Soda. You let him do whatever he wants. I just want a little freedom once in a while," I cut him off.

Darry sighs and looks over at Johnny.

"Hey, can you give us a minute, Johnny? Can you go find Two-Bit and tell him that I find Pony?" asks Darry.

"Sure, Dar," he says and he walks away.

When he was out of range of hearing out conversation, Darry continued.

"Pony," he places his hand on my shoulder. His voice is calm and reassuring. " I treat Soda the way I do because he older than you and I know that he can handle himself whenever he goes and if something get too rough , I know that Steve or somebody like Two-Bit will be there with him . And maybe, when you get to be Soda's age I'll treat you like that. I know that right now you think that how I treat you guys is unfair, but it's only because I love you both that you could ever understand, and I want to keep both of you with me for as long as God will let me. I need to know that both of you are safe--," I cut him off again.

"Yeah, I know that . But-," this time it's his turn to stop me.

"I only do it because I care, Pony." Is hand rubs my back for a moment. " I only do it because I care."

"Come on," he says.

We head to Soda's room.

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Monday, 11:00 a.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 426

The door to Soda's room was closed. Usually it's open. I placed my hand on the door knob and turned it. It was locked.

_What the hell?_ I think to myself. I look up at Darry who had a skeptical look on his face.

"Why is it locked, Darry? Is Soda okay?" I ask.

He shrugs.

"I don't know, Pony. I don't know."

He turns around walks up to the front desk.

The lady is talking on the telephone, she saying something about her son being left at home by himself and something about needing a babysitter because she has to work all night.

"Excuse me," says Darry. The lady tells whoever she's talking to, to hold on so the can help Darry.

"Yes?' she answers in an aggravated voice.

"Um, my brother's door to his room is locked and I can't get in."

"Why did you lock it?"

"I didn't. I didn't even know that it could lock. I never had a reason to lock it," snapped Darry.

The lady violently pushes her chair back and heads for the door. She takes out a huge chain with one million keys on it. She looks at the door number then finds the key that matches that number.

The key slides in the door and it swings open.

Inside a man with is face covered had removed the pillow from behind Soda's head and placed it over his face. His knuckles turned white because he pressed the pillow so hard on Soda.

Soda's arms held onto the wrists of the man, trying to get him to stop but it wasn't doing much good.

Before I knew it Darry ran full speed toward the man. Without hesitation, he punched the man as hard as he could . The lady from the front desk screamed for someone to help. I was stunned and couldn't find the strength to move, but Darry could. He swung at the man left and right . The man tried to fight back but was no match for Darry, especially when he was that mad.

I looked over at Soda, the pillow still lay over his face . One arm is slung over the side of the bed the other on his stomach.

Amazingly, the man gets away. He pushes me out of his way and runs out of the room and down the hallway.

"Somebody stop him!" yelled Darry. When on one did, he punched the doorway.

"Damn it, he got away." Darry says.

I look up at him.

"Who is he?" I ask.

_**HAHAHA ANOTHER QUESTION TO SIT IN YOUR BRAIN AND BOTHER YOU UNTIL I TELL YOU THE ANSWER. WHO IS THIS GUY?**_

_**ANYWAY, LIKE ALWAYS, PLEASE REVIEW. LEAVE YOUR QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, GUESSES FOR THE FUTURE AND SUGGESTIONS IN YOU REVIEW. I'LL UPDATE AS SOON AS I CAN. **_

_**THANK YOU!!**_


	19. Guilty

Darry's Point of View:

Monday, 11:39 a.m

Tulsa Hospital, Hallway/Waiting Room

I felt Ponyboy pull on my arm the same time as I seen the door slam in my face. The doctor was pulling the nurse to move out of his way, the nurse was pulling Ponyboy to get out of the way, and Ponyboy was pulling me to move out of the doorway.

"Come on, son. You have to move so the doctors can help your brother," says the nurse to Ponyboy. He doesn't answer though, he just pulls on my arm harder.

I see the doctors run around like crazy people and nurses follow them like trained puppies. I see security run down the hall, two of them. Both were big with ten times more muscles than me. They towered over me by a couple of feet and their hands were as big as my head.

I zoned out for a minute or two. When I came back to reality, I was sitting. I don't remember moving, I don't remember walking, but here I am now. Ponyboy is sitting next to me, Johnny was sitting next to him, and Two-Bit was sitting next to him.

"You really don't have to stay here, Mr. Matthews. We'll let you know everything about your friend when all of the commotion slows down," the nurse said. She was concered for Two-Bit. He wasn't really supposed to be out of bed right now, at this point of his recovery, but he insisted on waiting here with us. As for Dally, I'm pretty sure he has heard everything that has happened by now and he still not here. I guess he chose not to come here and wait with us. I guess he doesn't are after all.

"What happened, Pony?" I heard Johnny ask to Ponyboy. He was scared , Pony was scared, Two-Bit was scared. I'm scared, but more than anything I was guilty.

From the corner of my eye I seen Ponyboy shrug. "I don't know Johnny. Honestly, I don't know"

I can tell you what happened. When I went to go find Ponyboy, I forgot to tell the front desk that I was leaving. Usually when I tell them that, they have someone watch Soda until we got back. But, I forgot to tell them, so they still assumed that I was in the room with him. So anybody was allowed to just walk in because they thought that I was in the room to stop the person if anything goes wrong.

What I'm trying to say is that everything is my fault. I always try to me careful, always try to understand all of the possibilities for my actions. I always think about how my decisions can effect my brothers, but I was careless and didn't think, and now look where it got me.

Soda's worse now, Pony's more scared, Johnny's ready to jump out of his skin, and Two-Bit doesn't know what to do.

My mind is full of thoughts that only make me feel worse. What if Soda dies? What if that guy suffocated him with that pillow? I don't know what I'll do if he's dead. What if Pony can't take all of this and does something stupid? What if my parents are disappointed in me? I know they are. I promised them that I would be a great brother and an even better guardian. I tile them that I would protect Soda and Pony from anyone and anything that might them. Now look at them. They're both hurt.

Ponyboy is hurt so much. Not physically like Soda, but emotionally, I know he wants to cry right now, but I think that he feels like me. I don't think that we can cry anymore, we've cried enough for a lifetime.

Soda. I don't even want to think about Soda right now. Whenever I do I think of all the trouble and pain I've caused him. I let the Soc's attack him. Two-Bit has told me over and over again that there was nothing that we could have done to help him, but I think that I could have done something. Soda's my little brother, I've always told him that I would protect him, no matter what, no matter how big the person, but I didn't . I was so weak, I was so stupid. I let it happen. Everything is my fault. I just wish that I could switch places with Soda. I deserve all the pain that he's in.

Right now, thinking about all the pain I've caused people, I just want to die.

**AWWW POOR DARRY! ANYWAY, I'M SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER IS SO SHORT BUT I FELT LIKE I NEEDED TO WRITE SOMETHING, SO I DECIDED TO UPDATE THIS. **

**PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. I WILL UPDATE AS SOON AS I CAN. **

**Thank You for all the support,**

**Your Author,**

**VFCGurl…….**


	20. Keeps Getting Better

Darry's Point of View:

Monday, 12:08 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, The Never Ending Hallway

"Darry, come on. He's callin' us," Ponyboy says to me. He calmed down now. His voice is soft but a little unsteady, and he stopped shaking. His eyes were red all around from tiredness and from crying. I don't know how long he had cried for after I zoned out, but before I did, I remember that he was doing everything he could not to cry. Pony's a tough kid, though. I know that I don't always make him seem that way, but he is. Actually, when I think about it, he's probably stronger than me. Physically no; but, maybe emotionally or psychologically on some levels. I'll never let him know this, but every time I think that I can't go another day, I just look at him and think about all he's been through. Sure, we both lost our parents, but Pony took it harder than any of us. See, me and Soda got to do things with our parents that he never get to do. Dad got the chance to teach me and Soda how to shave. Pony will never get that from Dad. Mom and Dad got to see me and Soda go on our first date. They will never see Pony go. Dad has taught Soda and I the facts of life. He taught us how to treat a girl, he told us to always treat them right and never put your hand on them. Of course, Pony knows these things but he didn't hear it from Dad like we did. He heard it form me.

"Darry?" he says again and I look us at him. He's standing, waiting for me to get up so we can go hear the news about Soda. I looked down the row at Johnny and Two-Bit. Johnny looked the same just more tired from sitting here so long. Two-Bit actually fell asleep and was just waking up now. He rubs his eyes then stretches his hands above his head and yawns.

I stand up. Slowly, I stand up.

looks at me crazily, watching me every move. His hands are in his white coat jacket, he hold yet another clip board under his left arm as he waited almost impatiently for me to get up. Dr. Hafford is a middle-aged man. In his late forty's or early fifty's. He wears small rectangle glasses that stay at the tip of his nose, always daring to fall off with the slightest movement but never do. His hair is a salt and pepper color and is slowly fading away and the top of his head is near bald and the sided are as thick as ever. He wears a yellow button us shirt under his jacket with black pants and black dress shoes. Dr. Hafford is a great doctor, if I have to say so myself, but he can have an attitude sometimes. He's always willing to help and could be a councilor if not a doctor because he gives great advice even if it might not seem right at the time. I know I can trust him with anything, especially because I've been trusting him with my brother's life for the past week.

When I finally do stand I look Dr. Hafford straight in the eye and we have a silent mind conversation.

"Is he alright?" my eyes ask him.

He sighs, but gives me a reassuring smile that all doctors give to someone who's worried sick about a family member. When I look at him I only see hollowness. I see hollowness in his face expression, in his eyes, and in his body language. I don't know what to expect, and I hate not to be able to anticipate what's gonna happen.

Dr. Hafford smiles another smile then motions with his hand for us to follow him.

"Come with me," he says.

Pony looks us at me and I grin a "It's- going- to – be- okay" grin and he nods a little. I place my arm around him and lay my hand over his shoulder, letting him know that I'm here. As we continue to walk I swear that his hallway is getting longer and longer. All around us is silent. I could only hear out footsteps on the tile floor and the almost silent _tick-tick-ticking_ of the secretary doing whatever she's doing behind her desk.

So here we are, walking down a silent, never ending hallway, about to walk into a room of news that I probably don't want to hear.

Finally, Dr. Hafford stops in front of a door with his name on it. His office I guess, and he opens the door.

Here we go.

Dr. Hafford's Point of View:

Monday, 12:12 p.m

Tulsa Hospital, Dr. Hafford's office.

I push open the door to my office and immediately walk behind my desk and sit down. My office hasn't been cleaned in weeks and I'm a little embarrassed that the Curtis' have to see it this way, but I'm pretty sure that the cleanliness of my office is the least of their worries right now. But still, I hate it. Papers are just thrown around my desk, some on the floors. Folders and patient's records are all around, unorganized. My two chairs, intended for visitors are placed on either side of the room when they should be facing my desk so we can talk face to face. My filing cabinet looks like two tornados and a hurricane hit it. I hate it. My window is closed and the heat is beginning to circulate the room.

"Please grab a seat and just place the chairs in front of my desk, please," I say.

Darrel goes to left and Ponyboy goes to the right to get their chairs. They grab the chairs, turn and meet in the middle. After placing their chairs on the floor they take a seat and wait anxiously for me to tell them the news on their brother.

I open my folder with the name CURTIS, SODAPOP P. on the top of it. I scan through it, gathering my thoughts before in inform them on what's happening now. I scan it quickly and clear my throat before I begin. I look up and see the anxiousness on their face and I see that their expecting the worst so I better clear that up right now.

"He's alive," I say and I instantly see their face relax a little. I can tell that their heart is beating a little more regular now and their breathing is a little more relaxed. Darrel lets out a huge breath that I guess he's been holding.

"Okay, now that that's out the way; let me tell you what happened and what's going to happen."

They both nod.

"After taking Sodapop out the room, we immediately took him in to the X-Ray room. There we found something we like to call "goose eggs", or bruises and swelling under the skull. But, please don't get too worried, they are very common and they usually go away on their own in time. He also popped a couple of stitched in his head during the struggle; we re-closed them. He also bruised a couple of his broken ribs.

Okay, he was given medication, pain relievers and medication to prevent seizures which is common in those who have had a brain or head injury. He will need bed rest, of course, plenty of fluids when he wakes, and round the clock pain relievers to make sure he feels as little pain as possible. The medication may cause vomiting and nausea, so just call me or a nurse if he throws up or says he doesn't feel well or if he feels warm because it's very likely that he will have a fever.

Also, head aches are very common. The can be very mild to very intense. If he does have one, and it happens to be very intense, just keep him calm and call for me, I'll be there shortly. There will be plenty of water handy in his room. I recommend that you try to get him to drink some, even if he says that he isn't thirsty. Now, remember that he is heavily medicated, so don't be surprised if he a little out of it. When the medicine begins to wear off a little or simply his body gets used to the medication, he should seen more like normal.

Lastly, I assume that you will want to go directly to his room to see him, correct?" I say.

"Yes," answers Darry.

"Okay, my nurse will give you ice and a cloth. You are to place it on his head, straight across his forehead. Do not place the ice bag directly on his skin, put the cloth down before the ice. Keep the ice on him for 20 to 30 minutes at a time for 2 to 4 hours. The ice is used to keep the swelling in his head down and also to try to break his fever if he has one, so it serves two purposes. After the 4 hours, someone, either the nurse or myself will come to check if everything is alright."

"Thank-you , Dr. Hafford. Really thank you for everything. Thank you for being a great doctor and most of all and most important, for saving my little brother's life. Just… I don't know. Just, thank you," says Darrel as he stands up and shakes my hand.

"You're welcome. You're very, very welcome," I answer before turning and heading for the door.

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Monday, 12: 34 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Hallway

He's alive.

I can't believe it; he's alive.

A couple of times through this whole chain of unfortunate events I thought Soda was going to die. I know that sounds mean, but think about it. How much more can he take before his body just finally gives up? I just can't tell you have happy I am to say that Soda's not a quitter, especially in stuff like this. Sure he quit school, but to me that doesn't count. He doesn't quit on things that he loves. He didn't quit on me when I was having all of those nightmares. He could have choose to stay in his own room and let me deal with them on my own. He could have said that I'll out grow my nightmares, but he didn't. He stayed with me and I love him for that.

We're walking down the hallway. Darry and Dr. Hafford are walking side by side, talking more about Soda I guess. I'm trailing behind a little. They turn the corner and head for a closet type room. Dr. Hafford opens the door and I feel the cool air rush out of it.

The freezer.

Haffrod pulls on gloves and places five medium sized iced cubes into the bag. He takes a hammer looking thing off the shelf inside and bangs the iced cubes down into small ice blocks, then he takes five more iced cubes and does the same thing until the blue bag is filled with small ice shavings. Then he hands Darry a thin cloth to place on Soda's head before he puts on the ice so it doesn't make direct contact with his skin.

Dr. Hafford pats Darry on the back and points to the elevator.

"He was moved up a floor. When you get out the elevator go right then straight down the hall. It's the last one on the left,"explains Dr. Hafford with a slight smile.

We get in the elevator and head to Soda's room.

Thank God, he's alive.

Darry's Point of View:

Monday, 12:43 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital. Room 212

Pony and I enter Soda's room. He's sleeping or something. All I know is that he's not awake. He has the breathing mask back on . He has wires coming from a white machine that go under his gown and over his heart. He has an IV in his finger, too. The room is cold and it's dark, kind of creepy. There is a light above his bed that shines right above his head and gives him this kind of glow that makes him look like he's from Heaven or something. And he is, he's our angel.

We walk over slowly, trying not to wake him up . Dr. Hafford said that it's best of he stays asleep for a while, to give the medicine a chance to kick in so when he does wake up, he not in so much pain.

"Pony can you go get me and you chair?" I ask without looking back. I still make my way to Soda's bed. When I get closer I see the redness around the cut that they recently sewn shut again. I'm glad to say that he looks peaceful, though. He doesn't look like he's in pain now. That's good , right? I look up at his heart monitor, it's slow and calm, like a beating of a drum. It sounds a lot better than it was before. That's good too, right?

Pony's walking across the room with two foldable chairs under his arm. He hands one off to me. I unfold it and place it right by the top of Soda's bed. I sit down. I take the cloth and place it as gently as possible on his head, and wait a second or two to make sure that I don't wake him up. When he doesn't move, I take the ice pack and lay it over the cloth. The bag is kind of heavy, though so it isn't as easy as the cloth.

"Mmmm," groans Soda, but doesn't wake up.

I scrunch my eyebrows together and suck my teeth a little.

"Sorry," I whisper.

Ponyboy taps me on the shoulder and I turn around.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Hurry up, though."

"Okay. Can I go tell Johnny and Two-Bit that everything's okay and that they can come in now?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say. "And tell them to be really quiet when they come," I tell him in a voice that's just above a whisper.

He nods and leaves the room.

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Monday 12:57 p.m

Tulsa Hospital, Bathroom

I pull the door open to leave the bathroom and a man and a woman are standing outside of it. I slow down a little, suspicious of why they're just standing outside of the Men's Bathroom like that.

"Are you Ponyboy M. Curtis?" asks the man. He's reading off the paper that he holds in his hand.

I shrug. "Maybe."

The lady sighs.

"Come on kid, don't play games. Are you Ponyboy or not?"

"What's it to you?" I say, trying to stay tough.

"Kid, we don't have time for you damn games. Is your name Ponyboy or not?!" almost yelled the man.

I nod slightly then instantly regret it.

The man takes me by the hand and pulls me down the hall and into the elevator.

"You're coming with us," he says just as the elevator closes.

**OKAY! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THAT CHAPTER. **

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	21. Story Time

Johnny's Point of View:

Monday, 1:03 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Waiting Room

Wow. We've been in here for almost two hours now. Usually when I think of hospitals I think of it being boring, but not lately. After everything thatoo had happened with the gang I don't think of _this_ hospital as boring, I think of it as dangerous. People who are already hurt get hurt even more? That's not how a hospital should be. Hospitals should be safe and you should know that while you're in here that you'll be taken care of. Not this hospital. It's like a living, breathing death-trap and I can't wait to get out of here. Hospitals are creepy, too. All you see is sick people. I mean, I know that that's why people come to the hospital: because they're sick or something, but it's just a pretty depressing sight to see. Okay, maybe I'm over reacting, but you get the point. I don't like this place.

With a sight I slide my tired eyes over and take a glace at Two-Bit. He sits there; his sights are set on the floor. I make o face of confusion and take a look for myself. I see nothing interesting at all._ What the hell is he looking at?_ I look down again, right at the same spot he's looking at, to make sure I'm not missin' anything special. I still see nothing but this tile floor.

"Two-Bit," I say. I turn in my chair so I face him. My legs are sore and the kind of hurt from sitting in the same position for so long. I study him as he stares at the floor and I crack a smile. _He looks like a statue or something, or a mental patient._ I chuckle a little at my thoughts. I was just about to call his name when his eyes jumped and were now staring at me down. His eyes were intense, shining almost; kind of like how Soda's used to. Two-Bit cocks and eyebrow slightly in a challenging manor and he grins a little.

Now we're in an undeclared staring contest. I take in a deep breath, relax my eyelids, and resist any temptation to or laugh. Soon, my eyes begin to water and I can see the tears begin to fill the surface of my lower eyelid. I know my eyes are red. I don't have to look at myself to know that. As for Two-Bit, his eyes are as clear as day. The fact that he hasn't blinked in over two minutes doesn't seem to bother him at all. He holds his stare and I hold mine but I don't know how long I can stay this way, but I'm willing to try.

Game on, Two-Bit. Game on.

**&**&**&**&**&**&**

_Three minutes later. . . _

_Game off! Game off!_ I scream in my head. I'm crying now, not because I'm upset or anything but because I've been lookin' at Two-Bit for five minutes. And trust me, if you look at something that ugly for this long, you'll cry too. Two-Bit's feeling pain, too. His eyes have gone from white to pink to red to blood-shot red. A couple of times he wiped is eye but I think he was cheating, using his hand to block his eye so he can blink without me seeing.

Cheater.

My left eye is burning like something you can't believe and I'm just about ready to give in. I breathe faster, trying to keep my eye under control. Just as it's about to close I see Two-Bit squeeze his eyes shut and the groan in disappointment. A huge smile comes across my face. I won.

"Ahhh, Johnny. You're just got lucky," he says as he rubs his eye.

"Yeah, okay," I reply with sarcasm in my voice, and we both begin to laugh. I wipe my cheek when I feel a tear trickle down it.

"So what do we do now?' I ask, bored again.

Two-Bit thinks for a second and shrugs. "You wanna hear a joke?" he asks with a slight smile.

_Oh God…._

"Sure," I say. Two-Bit fixes himself in the chair and clears his throat like he about to say something to earth-shaking funny.

"Okay," he starts. "How do you keep a blonde busy for an hour?" he says. He looks at me , trying to hold his laughter inside.

"I dunno Two-Bit, how?" I say in a dry voice.

"You write 'please turn over' on both sides of a piece of paper and just watch her keep turning the paper!" he yells. I smile at him and shake my head. He's crazy. Two-Bit grabs his stomach and laughs like is the funniest thing he's ever heard in his life. _Someone's feeling better._ I think to myself as he continues to laugh.

"You wanna…" he chuckles again. "You wanna hear another one?" he asks. He has a huge smile and I can tell that he missed telling us jokes and making us laugh. He hasn't done it in a while. I know he wants me to say yes.

"Why not?" I say to him. I put my elbow to the arm of the chair and rest my head in the palm of my hand.

"Okay. Okay. Let me think," he says. A couple of seconds pass then he says, "Alright, I got one."

"Why did the blonde climb over the glass wall?" he asks.

I shrug.

"Man I don't know. To get to the other side?" I respond with a worthless guess.

"To see what was on the other side!" he says and bursts into a fit of laughter again. I smile because he's laughing at such a non-funny joke. I look behind him and I spot a blonde headed nurse standing behind the desk. Now I laugh and wonder if she heard all that was said about 'her kind'.

"You see," says Two-Bit. He wipes a fake tear from his eye. "See that one was funny. I'm funny. Hell, I'm hilarious!"

"Yeah, yeah," I respond trying to shut him up. He could wake up a whole grave yard with his laughter.

"So…," I say, changing the subject. He looks at me like he wondering what I'm going to say.

"Can you…,"I say, almost afraid of bringing up a sore subject, I know that this isn't something that he might not want to talk about. He looks at me and moves his hand in a 'spit-it-out' motion. "Can you tell me what happened?" I say.

He looks at me, then smiles. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Can you tell me the whole story?"

"From the beginning?"

"If you feel up to it, yeah," I say.

Two-Bit lifts his chair so that it's now facing me. He doesn't have to sit on his side to be able to face me anymore. He smiles again. "Sure," he says.

"All right, it all started about two and a half weeks ago. Darry told me that he was getting calls, strange calls asking the weirdest things. He told me they were mostly asking things about Soda, you know. Asking for his birthday, you know, stuff like that. At first, Darry thought it was the state and I have no reason why he thought that, but he did, but he soon realized that it wasn't.

Anyway, one morning he gets another call and blah, blah, blah they ask questions. Okay, so we're walking. I don't know why, but we all decided to walk today, even Darry. He was going to work and so was Soda, me and Dally were going to drop them off, hang a little, the find something to do, and Pony was walking to school. So we come to the corner, you know the one where Pony got hit in the head a about a month go when we were playing block football?"

I nod.

"Yeah so Pony goes one way and we got another. Soon he out of sight, out of mind, and off to school. So we were walking, and Dally starts talking about this cute brunette that he saw the other day. It's still early in the morning and there's not a lot of light yet but there's enough to see what's ahead of you. But that's not the point, anyway, Dally moves closer to us and says some crap like 'check out the Soc' car behind us', but you know he said it in his 'tuff guy' voice," says Two-Bit and he adds air quotes then continues.

"So we nod and keep walking because at the time we had no idea what was about to happen. The Soc's could have been just passin' by for all we knew, and none of us even seen the car besides Dally. So it was my bright idea that maybe we should take the short cut and go down the alley way instead of walking around the whole block. And I wish that I hadn't said that because that's when everything happened."

He stops and looks at me. I'm really interested in this story.

"Okay, so we're walking down the alley way, trying to stay cool. That's when I hear the door slide open and then I hear about a thousand feet hit the floor. They sound like horses breaking out of their stable or something.

Before I know it, we're fighting. I swinging left and right and just hitting the Soc's. _Bam, Bam, Bam_," he swings his hands like he's punching someone.

"So then I see Darry fighting the two biggest ones and I see that he's have a little trouble handling them so I think , _Can't be Superman all the time_, and continue fighting my guys. I look over for a second and I see Dally handling his guys, he doesn't need any help and he seems to be enjoying them.

By now I'm so into fighting my guys that I don't see nothing but them. Then, out of nowhere I hear a loud cracking sound then I hear Soda yell, but it was like a yell I never heard before. It was like… I don't know. It was a yell that tells you that someone's in trouble and in a lot of pain. Then I hear Darry yelling for Soda and whatever.

Then, there's more struggling. Soda's on the ground now doing all he could to keep the Soc's off him. I turn to go help him when the two guys that I'm fighting hold me back and suddenly that got harder to fight. Darry's trying to get to Soda, too, but his guys are keeping him at a distance. By now the Soc's have Soda's hands pinned to the ground and he moving like a dead fish. Soda kicked with all the strength he had left to try to keep the Soc's at a distance. The one Soc's guy brought his face closer to Soda's and Soda spit right in his face and I couldn't help but smile."

I grinned a little.

"Alright, this next part is kind of nasty and I don't know if you want to hear it," he warns me but I tell him that I want to hear everything that happened, so he nods and gives me a look that says ' you- asked-for it' the continues.

"Okay," he says, takes a deep breath and continues. "So the Soc's are all over Soda by now but he's still fighting but he can only do so much with his arms pinned to the ground. So the Soc on top of him… he _kisses_ Soda and now I'm thinking_,_ _what the hell? _So now all of us are freaked out, especially Soda. He's really kicking now, trying to move but he can't.

Then the same Soc who just kissed him takes a needle out of his pocket and he jabs it into Soda's arm. Now Darry' the one freaking out. He trying to push past the Soc's but they still are keeping him away. At first the needle didn't do anything and I'm wondering what they hell they did it for then I see. Slowly, Soda's starting to not fight back and before I know it he's out like a light.

Now he's kissing him again and the other Soc'e begin to leave because they don't need to hold Soda down anymore. They come over to keep us back even more, but amazingly Darry gets this burst of energy or something and he fights his way through the Soc's. They get him but I see it as an opening to try for myself. I jump and land on the Soc who now trying to undress Soda. Now me and him are fighting.

Before I know it, something hits me in the back of the head and I'm out. All I see is darkness," says Two-Bit.

I don't know what to say. I can't say anything.

"Yeah, so we wake up in this room and….," he stops talking and is looking at something behind me.

"Look who just crawled out of a cave," he says to me. I turn around and see Dally walking down the hall. He looks over in our direction but doesn't stop walking. Two-Bit stands up and calls his name but Dally acts like he doesn't hear him.

"Dallas!" calls Two-Bit again, when he still doesn't get a reply Two-Bit gets up and follows him.

"I'll finish telling you the story later, okay Johnny?" he says as he makes his way out the room.

I don't even get a change to answer because he's already out the room.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**YAAY A NEW CHAPTER. I WAS GOING TO UPDATE "FEAR" BUT I WAS KIND OF HAVING A BRAIN BLOCK ON THAT STORY SO I UPDATED THIS. **

**REVIEW IF YOU WANT…..THANKS A LOT IF YOU DO.**


	22. Roof Top

Two-Bit's Point of View:

Monday,1:10 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 902

"Dallas!" I yell after him, but he's moving too quick for me to catch. He's been avoiding us lately and we don't know why. There's something that's been keeping all of us from each other, an invisible wall that keeps us from being like we used to be. It's like we can't seem to just be happy around one another without someone getting mad or upset about something. But, I'm tired of it; so I'm going to fix it. I guess I have to start with Dally.

He turns the corner now and is heading for his room. I'm right behind him, yelling for him to stop moving away from me, all I want to do is talk to him. Finally, he makes his way to his room. I was expecting to hear the door slam shut the maybe hear the sound of him locking it, but I didn't. Instead, he kept the door wide open and I begin to ask myself why did he make me chase him all the way here if he's not even going to lock me out?

Without hesitation I walk in. He's sitting on his bed, looking out the window. He plays with his necklace and tries to pretend that he doesn't see me even though I know he does.

"Dally," I say just to get his attention. He doesn't look though, he acts like he can't hear me.

I sit across from him in the chair on the other side of the room.

I take in a deep breath. "Dally, what's wrong with you?" I ask. My voice isn't loud anymore. It's just loud enough for both of us to hear. I don't want to argue, I just want to go back to the way we all used to be.

He moves on his bed but doesn't answer me.

"Don't you miss how things used to be, Dally? Remember how we used to just have fun and not care about what's gonna happen next? Remember how we used to be?" I ask him trying to start the conversation to get to the bottom of this.

"Of course I remember, man," he answers almost silently. This is a side of Dally that I've never seen. It looks like he's afraid of something, and if you know Dally, he isn't afraid of anything, and if he is he sure as hell won't admit it.

"Don't you want to get back to that?" I ask.

He doesn't answer, but he turns so that he's facing me.

"Dally, what's wrong?" I ask him, this time with more determination in my voice, letting him know that I'm going to keep asking until he give me an answer.

He looks mad now, like I said something completely offensive to him.

"You wanna know what's wrong, Two-Bit? I'll tell you what's wrong! This is _all_ my fault, Two-Bit! That's what's wrong!" he yells at me, I can tell that he's been holding this in for a long time.

I shake my head, and look at him directly. I say this slowly so that he understands every word that I say. "It was nobody's fault, Dally. None of us knew that those Soc's were gonna jump us. None of us knew that they were gonna do that stuff to Soda. Nobody knew that the guy who said that he was gonna give us a ride home was a complete phyco-path, okay. It's _not_ your fault. None of it," I try to assure him but he doesn't want to believe me.

"No, Two-Bit. You don't understand," he says to me then puts his head down, but he's not crying.

"Then explain it to me, Dally. I'm trying to help you and it you don't tell me what's bothering you then I can't do that."

We were both quiet for a while. I didn't even try to think of something to say.

"When we were walking," he begins, " I saw the car. The car that the Soc' were in. I seen them following us ever since we left the house. I don't know why I didn't say anything earlier, I should've. I don't know what the hell I was thinking, maybe I didn't want to believe that it was Soc's, maybe I didn't really know at all?"

I could've cut in right there. I could've told him that it wasn't his fault that he didn't tell us earlier, he didn't want to jump to conclusions. But, it didn't say anything, I just let him talk. I know that this is something that he needs to get off his chest, this is something that has been eating at him and he needs it to stop. I just let him talk.

"So there we are, you know? Just walking. So then we come to the corner and Pony leaves. So then we watch him walk for a while, make sure he gets around the corner, then we keep walking."

He stops. He looks confused, his eyebrows scrunch together and he bites his lip.

"And not that I think about it," he starts again, " I think that the car stopped when we stopped. I think they waited for us, they wanted to see which way we were going. Damn it! I was so _fucking_ stupid!" he slams his hand on the bed. I just look at him, listen to what he has to say. I just leave him alone.

He takes in a breath. "Then we were walking again. I was talking about some broad it met the other day. But then the Soc's car was really getting close and that's when I realized that it was really the Soc's and that they were looking for a fight. So then you said that we should go down the alleyway instead of walking around the whole block. So we did. And that's when it happened.

Any wanna know what the worst part it? I _knew _that Soda was in trouble. I _knew _that pretty soon those Soc's were gonna be too much for him to handle by himself, and I didn't help. I thought that Darry was going to help him, but he didn't see what I saw. None of you did.

Those Soc's were playing smart. They let Soda get hits on them on purpose and the had certain people back off while the others fought him. None of you knew that they were taking turns, but I did. They made sure that they weren't hurt all. They made sure that they always had the upper-hand over Soda. They made his use all his energy, you know? They knew that he was gonna fight back, they knew that he was gonna try all he could to keep them off him, but they knew that he couldn't.

Those Soc's had it all planned out. They planned for the two biggest guys to fight Darry, they planned for you to fight the ones that looked weak but were really strong and hard to control.

That's when they slammed him against the wall. We all heard the sound that it made when it hit the bricks. We all heard Soda yelling because it hurt so bad. That got both you and Darry's attention. Then, you guys knew that Soda was in trouble.

Now Darry was trying to get to him. I was still fighting off my two guys and so were you. They were hard to fight, but I think that if I tried hard enough, I could've got past them. But I didn't try hard enough, I depended on Darry to help him.

Then the thing with the needle happened, there I really tried to help. I really tried to help Soda, but I couldn't. But I guess I didn't try hard enough, because I couldn't get past the guys I was fighting. Neither could Darry, at first. But soon he got away but he was caught. That's when you finally got through the guys you were fighting and knocked over the guy who was on Soda.

I remember trying to go help you , but then someone hit me in the back of the head and then everything went black," he says to me.

Dally takes in a couple of deep breaths and keeps going.

"Then the thing with the handcuffs. I told Darry that I could get them off Soda quick. I don't know how long it took me, but it want quick. And it think that maybe if I got Soda out of those handcuffs quicker then maybe we could have escaped quicker, then maybe all of this wouldn't have happened," he explains to me.

I finally speak. "Or maybe we would still be in the woods right now, Dally! You didn't do anything worng! No one else could've gotten Soda out of those things and you know it!" I shoot at him. I don't know why I was yelling at him, but I know that there's not reason to feel the way that he does.

"If I did nothing wrong, Two-Bit, then why do I feel like I do?! Why is Soda lying in this hospital!? Why am I in this hospital?! Why are you, huh?!"

"Because of the Soc's, Dally!"

"The Soc's?" he says to me. He's not yelling now. "The Soc's had nothing to do with us getting in the car crash, or us getting lost in the woods, me getting that knife in my arm."

"Dally, we get in the car crash because Darry knew that he was a bad guy. We don't even know if he was really taking us back to Tulsa. Maybe he was taking us back to the pace we'd just came from, maybe he was taking us back to his house to kill us, maybe he was going to drop us off back in the woods. Either way that guy couldn't be trusted and eventually Darry knew that," I answer him.

"Yeah, but none of that would have happened if I didn't leave you guys. None of that would have happened if I didn't tell you guys that he was going to take us home. Don't you understand, Two-Bit? It _is_ my fault, and I've never felt guilty about anything in my life, but this is really all because of me!'

I don't bother to tell him again that it wasn't his fault so I ask something else.

"Why did you leave us, Dally?" I ask. It was something that I've always wondered, but I never thought that I'd have the chance to ask Dally about it.

He shakes his head. "I don't know, I really don't know. I was just so pissed off, I couldn't take it anymore, you know? I couldn't look at Soda anymore with all of the cuts and bruises that he had. I couldn't look at Darry and see how upset he was every time he'd look at Soda. I couldn't see how scared you were anymore. It was just too much. And I didn't understand why I felt that way. I mean, I'm Dallas Winston, I don't care about no one, you know, but there is was, scared as hell, lost in the woods, with my arm bleeding like crazy.

I hated to stop. Every time Darry would stop to check of Soda I'd hate it. Not that he was checking on him, I didn't mind that. I understand that Soda is Darry's little brother. I know that he and Pony are everything to Darry, but I didn't want to be reminded of how bad Soda was doing, because I knew that it was my fault." Dally explains to me.

He moves around on the bed, then keeps going. "And the car crash, that was because of me, too. If I never left you guys, then we would have never met Jake. Then if we'd never met Jake then we wouldn't have gotten into the car accident," he insists to me.

I sigh. "But Dally, you have to try to forget about all of that. Just lighten up, think positive or something, and just try to get over this. And if you can't do it for yourself and if you can't do it for me, do it for Darry, Soda, and Pony. The one's who are suffering the most."

He nods and I know the he understands what I mean.

We both don't talk for a while. We're both just thinking about everything that happened.

"So what about you?" asks Dally. "How are you doing?"

I shrug. " I don't know. Okay, I guess."

"That's good. What about Pony and Darry, they're okay, too?"he asks.

"Why don't you go and ask him?"

"I can't"

"Why? Why have you been so distant from us? What did we do? What did Darry do to you to make you not want to speak to him anymore? And do you really not have a heart? How could you not care that the state could be taking away Soda and Pony?"

He puts his head down again. He knows that he's been an ass to everyone, but he might change a little and begin to act right.

"I do care, Two-Bit. I care about both of them, you know that. And what's going on with me and Darry is none of your business!" he yells at me. I guess I hit a sore spot with him. The Darry situation is something else that's been bothering him. But just like everything else, it has to be addressed so that it can disappear.

"Dally, stop being a jack ass and just tell me what's going on so I can help you."

"Another day, Two-Bit. I've told you too much already."

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Monday, 1:22 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, The Roof

The man has his hand on the back of my shirt to make sure that I don't run. I don't know that they want and I don't want to find out. There's no where to go. I watch the lights as the light up with each floor that we pass. Finally we get to the top floor, 5, and the door opens.

The man pushes me out the door and we follow the woman down the hall. She doesn't look much older than me, neither of the do. They look like they're Soda's or Dally's age, maybe a little older.

The girl had long blondish hair that comes down just a little past her shoulders and her skirt comes to her knees. We come to a door that had a _ROOF_ sign on it. She takes out a key and opens the door.

She walks up the stairs and so does the man. I stop, try not to go up the stairs because I have no idea what is going to be up there.

"Go, kid. Move your ass," says the man. He pulls me up the stairs and I almost fall because we're moving so fast.

When we reach the top I see four guys standing in a circle. Two have jet black hair and look very similar, I guess they're brothers. One had light brown hair and green eyes and the other had red hair and brown eyes. All look mean , like the type of people you would hate to meet in a dark alley.

I gulp, I don't know what they're going to do to me.

"Well, well," say one of the brothers.

The guy holding my shirt moves me closer to them.

The group takes a couple of steps towards me.

"Ponyboy? Right?"

I don't answer.

"Is that your name?"

I still don't answer, I don't even look at him.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tounge?" asks the Red Head.

"Well that's okay because we know all about you," says the other brother, the one with the younger face. He takes the paper from the man who brought me up here. He reads it out loud.

"Ponyboy Michael Curtis. Fourteen years old. Grey/ green eyes, brown hair. Birthday: July 22nd, 1952. Parents are dead. Guardian is Darrel Shaynne Curtis, Jr. Blue- green eyes. Brown hair. Birthday: January 5th, 1946. Brother, Sodapop Patrick Curtis. Older than you. Brown eyes. Brown hair. Birthday: October 8th, hospitalized."

I looked at him, shocked that they knew all of this about me even though we have never even had a conversation together. I've never seen them before in my life. I gulp, wondering what else they know.

"So you see," starts the older brother, " You actually don't have to say anything because we already know. We just need you to listen," he tells me.

I still don't say anything but they know that they have my attention.

"You are going to do exactly what we say when we say it. Understand? We are going to need you to do certain things for us so we can get what we want, and if you don't _things_ are going to happen to you and your brothers. Now, I would tell you right now what I want you to do, but that wouldn't be much fun, would it? But just remember the consequences if you don't."

I nod. I have to show him that I'm listening.

"And don't tell anyone, not a soul, or your life is just going to get worse. Keep you mouth shut. Get it? Don't say one word about this to your big brother or any of your Grease Ball friends. You do, and I'm coming after you personally."

I gulp. What does that mean?_ Personally. _

The brother talking turns around and walks away.

"Take him back," he says to the man.

We head back down the stairs again.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OKAY, ANOTHER CHAPTER. HOPE YOU LIKED IT.

PLEASE REVIEW.

THANK YOU.


	23. Lies

**HEY EVERYBODY! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED AND I HOPE YOU REVIEW THIS CHAPTER, BECAUSE THERE ISN'T A LOT OF CHAPTERS LEFT FOR THIS STORY. ANYWAY, HOPE YOU ENJOY THE CHAPTER…..**

**_________________________________________________________________________________**

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Monday, 1:30 p.m

Tulsa Hospital, The Roof/ Stair Well/ Front Desk

"Walk," commanded the guy. He put his hand on the top part of my back and pushed me forward. I stumbled a little but didn't lose my balance. While walking I looked around. Everything looked so brown. The bricks that were on the perimeter of the roof were brown, the door that we were walking to was brown, the ground was brown, everything! I looked up at the sky to make sure that it wasn't brown ,too. It wasn't, though, it was dark and gray. Storm clouds moved in from both sides of the sky. They slowly made their way closer to each other. It reminded me of the rumble, how we both come form different sides of town, then we meet in the middle, then all of the trouble happens.

I hear the clicking of the lady's heels on the right of me. I slide my head from the sky to her. She has this look on her face that is almost indescribable, she looks happy and sad, scared and fearless, but I can also see a hollowness, there's a place in where there is nothing. Obviously, she's missing something in her life.

We come to the door, the lady opens it. I go down first, but not by choice. Once again I was pushed. I walk quickly, trying to get away from them as fast as I could. I could hear their footsteps behind me moving faster and faster as they tried to keep up with me. The stairwell echoed every sound that we made, and the sound of out feet hitting the steps seemed louder than anything else. I wonder why no one had heard us, because I know that the don't let just anybody go on the roof.

Just at that moment, I wished that I hadn't asked it anybody heard us. As soon as we reached the bottom and was about to open the door to he hallway, a nurse pushed the door open.

"What on earth are you doing up here?!" she questions with her hands on her hips.

I stay quiet, I figured that I should let them do all the talking, because technically I'm the victim here.

The guy moves closer, he puts his hand over is hear like he's about to say something really touching.

"Ma'am," he starts. "Me and my girlfriend, Ashley, found this young man," he points to me, "running up this stairwell. Now, being the wonderful and caring people we are, we saw that he was upset so we followed him up to make sure that everything was okay," he lies. I look at the lady, my eyes are as big as pizzas, my mouth hung open in a 'O' shape. " We asked him what's wrong, and he told me that recently his brother was placed in this hospital. Amanda told him that everything would work out for the best but I guess he didn't believer her. That's when it happened," he states.

"What happened?" asks the nurse in a skeptical voice.

The guy puts his arm around me and pulls me close to him. I push him back, try to get him off of me, but he's too strong.

"He tried to jump, ma'am."

Both the nurse and I gasp at the same time. Her eyes go soft with sympathy for me. "Oh my God," she whispers.

"No I didn't!" I yell out, but the guy quickly covers my mouth.

"Shhh," he hushes me in a soothing voice, trying to act like he cared for me. "It's okay, Ponyboy. Everything's going to be okay," he tells me. I feel his grip tighten on me and he tries to lay my head is his chest. I push him back and pull away. I need to tell her what really happened.

"He's lying! I didn't try to ju-," he covers my mouth again.

"Poor kid," he states. "He's delusional, all this stress of his brother's accident is finally getting to him." He hugs me, then he gives the nurse a sad look.

She takes her hands off her hips and reaches out for me. She takes my hand and pulls me into the hallway then into the elevator.

"Listen, miss, you don't understand," I try to begin.

"You brother _isn't_ in this hospital?" she asks.

I shake my head. " No, he is, but I didn't try to jump. I swear to you-,"

The guy gives me a slap on the back that tells me to shut up, but I don't listen.

"I _didn't_ try to jump, and they _didn't _try to 'save' me," I try to explain.

The guy pulls me back toward him. He places his hand around me and across my chest, like a backwards hug. He shakes his head, like he can't believe what I'm saying.

"It's okay, Ponyboy. We're gonna get you help," he tells me.

The little bell rings to let us know that we've reached out floor then the door opens. The nurse escorts me out of the elevator and down the hall. We approach the front desk, and the nurse walks behind the desk. She watches me the whole time she's walking, just to make sure that I don't run.

"You have to believe me, I didn't do what they're saying that I did. I'm not that kind of person, I'm okay," I try to convince her but it seems as though she isn't listening. Right now, she searching through a huge white book. She flips past a lot of pages, then she comes to another and stops. At the top, in big bold print, it reads "**SUICIDE PATIENT RESOURCE CENTER**". I start to panic a little, she really believed them. Her manicured nail makes it's way down the page until she finds a number to call. She writes it down, slams the book shut, then comes back around the desk.

"Now sir, if you could jus tell me wha-,"she stopped in the middle of her sentence when she realized that she was talking to no one. The man and the woman had left, vanished into thin air. She scratched her head like she was trying to figure out a hard riddle, then she finally accepted the fact that they were gone.

"Where'd they go?" she asked me. "They were here a minute ago."

I shrug.

"But listen," I say.

She shushes me. "Sit down, I'm going to go find your brother, and we'll figure this all out," she tells me with a fake smile. She puts her hands on both my shoulders and guides me into the closest chair. I move from under hear and continue to talk.

"Why won't you belIeve me? I'm okay, honest , I am," I say to her.

She smiles.

"I'm gonna go get your brother."

Darry's Point of View:

Monday, 1:47 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 212

Have you ever woke up from a really good dream and tried to get back to sleep? Or, you do something great once and you try so hard to do it again? Or, you're sick and you promise yourself that you'll be happy with the way you used to be if you could just get back to it? That's how I feel. Like my life before all of this was just a dream. I wish I could go back to sleep. Everything used to be so much easier, all of the problem that I used to have don't seem like anything compared to the problem that I have now. I just realized how luck I was before all of this.

I take in a deep breath and relax. I look back at Soda. No change, though. Dr. Hafford told me that the put him in a medically endued coma, he said that he'll didn't want Soda to pop one of his stitches again. He said that he shouldn't wake up right now, but if he does, just call the nurse and she'll put him back to sleep.

I've been holding this ice pack on him for a while now, but he still has a high fever. It was 103.4 the last time it was checked. It went down a little, but it's still pretty high.

So much has happened in these past few weeks, it's kind of hard to connect everything together. But there are a few things that still stick out in my mind, there are still questions that I want answers to.

Who's Jake? Was he really connected to the Soc's and the kidnapping or did I lose my mind? Was he really going to take us home? Sometime I wonder about him, I wonder what he's like as a person. The last I heard, he was still in this hospital. Sometimes I want to go talk to him, go ask him all of these questions in hope of getting answers.

Who was the guy in Soda's room? Why did he try to kill him? Where did he come from? Why was I so stupid? Why didn't I tell the nurse that I was leaving, if I did someone would have been with Soda until I came back. I guess that's my fault. I wasn't thinking, too much was happening for me to think.

What if I don't get to keep Soda and Pony? I hate to think of it, I can't imagine my life without them. Nothing would be the same. No books around the house from Pony. No crazy food from Soda. No more football games, probably. I wouldn't see Steve much because Soda's gone and probably wouldn't see Johnny, too. I'll miss the things that I used to hate doing. I'll miss telling Soda not to stay out too late. I'll miss arguing with Pony, even if it was over the dumbest things. I'll miss cleaning up after them and making dinner with them. I'll miss getting Pony's report card and feeling that happiness when I see all A's and B's.

If they go, I'll never got to see Pony go off to college. I'll never get to see Soda get married. I'll never see Pony's High School graduation. I'll never get to see their children…..

"Mr. Curtis," a voice says that interrupts my thoughts. My head whips around and I see the same woman again. She finally changed her suit, it's now black. She stands in the doorway with papers in one hand and a briefcase in the other.

She clears her throat.

"I know that all of this is hard for you, and I know that I'm not your favorite person, but I've been assigned to your case and I've been told you to update you on what's going to happen," she says to me .

I take the ice pack off of Soda's forehead, places it on the table next to the bed, and stand.

"Inform me?" I ask.

She nods, and takes a couple of steps in the room.

"You're statements will be taken tomorrow, 10:00 sharp. Just take your brothers to the police station, and give them this paper." she takes the first sheet off the top of her stack of papers and hands it to me.

I look back.

"But," I start, " What if one of my brothers can't make it?"

I see her eyes shift past me and onto Soda.

"Oh," she whispers. She moves her hair out of her face. "Okay, well tell whoever you talk to at the station what happened, and they'll work something out." she tell me.

I nod.

"Do you know then the court date is?" I ask her.

She looks down at her papers. "Umm," she says as she flips through her sheets. " Oh, here it is," she says after a few pages, " It's Friday, at 4:30 at the court house on 7th street."

She looks down again. " Okay, and can you verify that Ponyboy Curtis, Sodapop Curtis, Keith Matthews, and Jonathan Cade will be speaking for you at he hearing?"

"Everyone is a yes beside Soda, he's a maybe," I tell her.

She nods, then turns around and heads for the door.

Suddenly she stops and turns around. " I hope you don't mind me asking, but is you brother going to be okay?" she asks.

I give her a little smile. " In time he should be just fine," I tell her.

She nods, "That's good," she almost whispers.

I nod.

"Thank you," she says then exit's the room.

I turn and head back towards Soda's bed. I didn't even have a chance to sit down when I hear my name being called again.

"Mr. Curtis?"

I turn around, this time it's a nurse in the doorway.

"Yes," I say and walk up to her.

"You're the guardian of Ponyboy?" she asks.

"Yes," I repeat.

"Can you came with me, we had a little incident today with him."

_Here we go again…_

"Is he alright?" I ask.

"For now, we're having a psychiatrist come talk to him."

"Psychiatrist?" I question. "What happened?"

"Please," she says, " Just come with me."

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	24. Welcome Back

Darry's Point of View:

Monday, 2:00 p.m

Tulsa Hospital, Human Resource Center

"Pony what the hell happened?" I question. His face is red with embarrassment; he can't look at me. From his chair he taps his foot on the ground. Finally he speaks up , " Darry, I swear I didn't. You believe me don't you, Darry?" he says in a quiet whisper.

"Did what?" I ask as I take a seat next to him.

The nurse sits behind a small desk in front of us and clears her throat, drawing attention to herself. She pushes her hair out of her face and begins, " I have some witnesses that say that Ponyboy tried to commit suicide."

My eyes go big and my mouth drops open. Ponyboy? My brother? Commit suicide? Something was wrong here, they mush have him confused with another kid. I shake my head back and forth, refusing to believe what she is telling me.

I feel Pony touch my arm and I look over at him. He's got t his look on his face that is hard for me to look at, he's so scared right not, he doesn't know what's going to happen to him if the nurse really thinks he's suicidal. He violently wipes a tear away from his eye , making himself even more upset. Pony never liked to cry, especially in front of anyone, and he was never good in stressful situations. He liked to think he was, he likes to think that he can handle anything if you just give him the chance, but I know he can't. I try m y best to keep him away from all of the drama that's going on but it's so hard.

I shake my head again. " You must me making a mistake, Pony's not suicidal; trust me," I explain to her, hoping that by me saying it will be enough for her to forget about it.

"Strangely," she starts again after a few moments of silence, " I believe you…"

I sigh, thinking that that was all that had to be said. I begin to stand.

"But," she interject again, "It's not me who has to clear him."

"Then who is?" I ask.

She looks through the couple of papers that she had brought with her.

"I've called Dr. Miller. He's a very good children's psychiatrist, and I though it'll be perfect for Ponyboy since that's the same doctor that's going to talk to your other brother, Sodapop," she announces with a smile, she seemed very happy with herself that she made that conclusion all on her own.

"Wow," I whisper, trying to take it all in.

The phone rings and we all jump a little. She picks it up, "Hello?" she says into the reciever. "Oh! Dr. Miller, how nice to hear from you….yes, they are both sitting right here." There was silence as she waited and listened to what the doctor had to say. She nods in agreement to what the doctor is saying. " Well, yes. But it's procedure; mandatory for me to call in someone…. Because you were going to talk to the other brother in a couple of days" The silence came back. The smile had been erased from her face as she tried to comprehend what he was telling her, for a while her face had been etched with confusion, like the doctor was talking too fast for her to understand. "Okay, see you in a couple of minutes. Thank you for taking the time…you're welcome, and thank you again," concludes the nurse. She hands up the phone and stands up.

"Please stay here for a few seconds while I go meet Dr. Miller at the elevator," she asks us before she closes the door shut, leaving me alone with Pony. As soon as she was gone we began to speak.

"Pony?" I say.

He shakes his head back and forth and his tears seem to run more freely. " I didn't do it, she's lying," he says to me.

I want to believe him, I really do, but why would a nurse lie about that? I don't know who to believe.

I look Pony straight in the eye and wipe the tears from his face with my hand. I place two fingers under his chin and life his head a little so we ware staring at each other.

"Stop crying," I tell him. He sniffles a little. " You're too old for that," I continue. " Now just calm down and tell me what happened, nice and slow, okay. Just tell me what happened."

He takes in a deep breath and nods his head.

" I came out the bathroom and was heading to go see Johnny and Two-Bit on the other floor, to tell them that Soda's gonna be okay and that they can come and see him. So I got in the elevator, but I must have pushed the wrong button because somehow I ended on the top floor heading to the room. I know I was stupid, and I know that I should've just turned around and went back in the elevator but I didn't I walked up the stairs to the room. It was peaceful up there, you know. For a while I didn't have to worry about anything.

So after a little I decided to head back down, that's when the nurse found me and asked me what I was doing, I was about to tell her the truth when some guy and girl came and told her that I tried to kill myself," he explains as he struggles to keep his tears at bay.

"But why would that say that, they don't even know you," I answer.

"That's what I was thinking, but they covered my mouth the whole time and I couldn't say anything. Then, when we got to the front desk, the disappeared before she could ask them anymore questions. She told me that she had to call I help for anyone who is suspected for committing suicide."

I nod, not full understanding what he's trying to tell me, but it was the story I would have to work with to get him out of this mess.

The door swings open and Dr. Miller walks in the door. He's a short man, probably shorter than Soda. He's dressed in a blue button up shirt and black dress pants. He carries a notepad with him. He takes a seat behind the desk that the nurse once sat behind.

"Hello," he greets. "I'm Dr. Miller, and I'll be doing a quick evaluation of you today. You must me Ponyboy," he says, holding out his hand for Pony to shake.

"And you must be Darrel," he says to me holding out his hand. I nod to him and say a small greeting.

"This won't take long, I promise. I just need Ponyboy to tell me a few things about himself and explain what's been happening and then you can be on you're way," he tells us.

From the corner of my eye I see Pony shake his head in agreement, so I do the same.

"Can you tell me you're age?"

"14."

He nods.

"Have you ever dealt with death before?" he asks.

Pony nods. " A couple years ago when my parents died."

Dr. Miller writes it down.

"Have you ever thought about ending your own life?"

"No," answers Pony. "Honestly, I haven't."

He writes that down.

"Would you say you were happy?"

Pony is silent for a while.

He shrugs. " As happy as I can be with the circumstances we're in."

Dr. Miller smiles.

"Pony, I k now that I haven't known you for long, but I would have to say you're just fine. I see that you're under stress, but so would anyone who had been through what you've been though," he pauses for a second. " You're free to go."

I smile and so does Pony.

I shake hand with Dr. Miller again. "Thank you so much, thank you," I say.

"You're very welcome, and see you soon for my meeting with you're other brother," he tells me.

I nod, " See you there," I finally say then turn and walk out the door.

Walking down the hallway, I place my arm around Pony and give him a small hug.

"Told you you'll be okay," I say to him.

"Mr. Curtis!" I hear someone call Pony and I both turn around at the same time.

I see the same lady again trotting down the hallway.

"Is she calling me or is she calling you?" asks Pony.

I smile, "Me," I say and begin to make my way toward her.

"Yes?" I say.

He catches her breath then begins. " I'm sorry to bother you again, but you're court date had been changed," she tells me.

I sigh. " Till when?"

"Tomorrow at three."

I let out a breath, somehow I saw this coming. I knew that I would have less time with them then they promised. I don't say anything, I just walks away and go to Ponyboy who's still standing where he was before.

"What happened?" he questions.

"We got court tomorrow afternoon."

"What about Soda?"

I shrug, " I gotta tell his doctor what happened and ask him if he can wake him up early," I reply.

Without another word we were off to find Dr. Hafford.

Monday, 2:34 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 212

"Okay," says Dr. Hafford as he injects a clear liquid onto the thins tube that enters Soda's arm. "This should wake him in a couple minutes, just be patient. I have to go throw this out, but I'll be right back, come get me if anything goes wrong, okay?"

"Sure," I answer as I take a seat next to Soda's bed. Pony stands behind me and we both wait.

Minutes pass like hours and soon we both see Soda move his head a little. I stand up and Pony is standing close behind me.

"Come on, Soda, open your eyes, come on," I coach from the side of his bed.

Pony and I both see Soda eyes flutter open and he looks at up blankly.

"Soda?" I say in a quiet voice. He doesn't answer me though, "Welcome back," I whisper to him with a smile.

I run my hand through his hair a couple of times. " It' s okay," I say to him. " You're in a hospital, you're gonna be just fine."

He looks at me, but doesn't answer.

" Can you hear me?" I ask.

He nods his head, " Yeah," he answers with his voice cracking a little.

I hear Pony sigh in relief and I smile.

"Do you remember us?" asks Pony.

He nods again. " Why wouldn't I?" he asks.

Pony and I both smile. " It's a long story," I tell him. " but, I'm just glad you're okay."

"Yeah me too, Soda. I'm glad you're okay," chimes in Pony from beside me.

"I missed you," whispers Soda to me, and I can't help it, I fell a tear run down my face and onto my shirt.

"I missed you, too, Little Buddy," I say, fighting back tears.

I feel Pony shove my playfully.

"Stop crying," he tells me with a smile, "You're too old for that."

I smile back and pull him into a hug.

It finally fells like we're getting back to normal.

______________________________________________________________________

_**OKAY, THAT WAS THE SECOND TO LAST CHAPER, AND THE LAST ONE SHOULD BE UP SOON. ANYWAY, I HOPE YOU REVEW, PLEASE REVIEW. **_

_**ALSO, I FIURED THAT THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO TELL YOU THAT EVEN THOUGH THIS STORY IS COMING TO AN END, THERE WILL BE A THIRD AND PROBABLY FINAL STORY IN THIS SEQUEL. **_

_**IT'S GOING TO BE CALLED **__**"ADDICTED" **__**AND IT SHOULD BE UP IN A COUPLE WEEKS OR DAYS AFTER THIS STORY ENDS. ANYWAY, JUST BEEN ON THE LOOK-OUT OF THAT STORY AND I HOPE YOU KEEP READING!**_

_**THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOU'RE SUPPORT, I LOVE YOU ALL**_

_**YOU'RE AUTHOR,**_

_**VFCGurl.**_


	25. Over

OKAY, LAST CHAPTER, SO ENJOY AND SEE EVERYONE SOON WITH THE MAYBE FINALY STORY IN THE SERIES. ENJOY…

**WARNING: I GUESS ? FOR IMPLIED SEXUAL CONTENT…..  
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Ponyboy's Point of View:

Tuesday, 12:00 p.m.

Curtis Residence

I pick of my last piece to my suit: my jacket. I hold it up in front of me.

_Wow, that looks small,_ I think to myself but I try it on anyway.

Just as I predicted, it was about two sizes too small. My arm only got halfway into the sleeve before getting so tight that I could feel my circulation getting cut off.

"Darry, it doesn't fit!" I call from my room. With my other arm I pull it off. At first it didn't move; not even a centimeter. I bend down so that the other sleeve is on the floor and put my foot on top of it. Pushing all my weight down I pull away, trying to free my arm. In an instant, my arm came flying out and I went flying onto the bed. I sit up slowly, winded by my fight with the jacket and take in a deep breath.

"What doesn't fit?!" Darry yells back from the kitchen.

I stand up, brush off my pants and head towards Darry's voice.

"My jacket," I answer as I take a seat at the kitchen table. I look over, I see Darry's toast on his plate and an apple. I reach over and take a piece of toast and shove half of it in my mouth before he turns around.

Darry takes a seat across from me. He takes a sip of his coffee then places it on the table. He thinks for a second. " Well…," he begins, " if your jacket is too small for you then Soda's is probably too small for him, so, you take Soda's and I'll give him mine," he concludes.

"What will you wear?" I ask.

"Clothes, hopefully," he answers with a smile.

I laugh. "Seriously Darry, if Soda has your jacket then what will you wear?"

He shrugs, " I'll see if we still have Dad's suit, I'll use his," he answers.

I nod but don't say anything. There was silence, but good silence, it gave us a change to think about today.

"You nervous?" I ask.

"Like hell," he answers me then take another sip.

"Me, too."

He sits back in his chair and lets out a deep breath.

"What if they take us away, Darry? I don't want to go, I wanna stay here," I say to him. I know that I'm telling him things that he already knows, but I just need to say it, just in case he was doubtful.

Darry sits up now, looking me straight in the eye.

"I won't let 'em, Pony. And as soon as they see that I love you and Soda more than anyone and anything, they'll realize that you should stay with me, okay?"

I sigh and look away. I want to believe what he's saying, but I can't, something's telling me that they'll take us away? What if me and Soda get sent to different boys homes? All of those this came piling into my head at once, I shook my head trying to block them, but it only gave me a headache.

I bring my hand to my head, trying to ease the pain.

"You alright?" questions Darry, looking at me suspiciously.

I shake my head yes, "I'm okay, just a headache," I say to him.

"Go take something," he says to me, getting up from the table again.

I stand too, going to the bathroom to find something for my headache.

Before I was completely out of sight I hear Darry call my name.

"Ponyboy," he says. I turn around and head back. I stand in the doorway, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"I know you ate my toast," he says. I smile and turn around.

Without answering I head to the bathroom.

Maybe today won't be too bad after all.

Darry's Point of View:

Tuesday, 12:46 p.m.

Curtis Residence, Darry's room

I'm sitting in my room, just thinking. This whole house seems unfamiliar, I don't know why. My whole world is being turned upside down, and I don't know what to do. I try to be strong for my brothers, especially Ponyboy who seems to be taking all of this kind of hard, but sometimes I can't; and this is one of those times where I try to hide what I'm feeling but it's just so hard. I feel tears swell in my eyes but I quickly wipe them away when I hear a knock on my door.

"Darry?"

"Yeah Pony?"

He's quiet for a minute. He opens the door and walks in and sits on my bed next to me. A few stray tears make lines down his face, his eyes are red and so is his face. He stands in front of me but isn't looking at me. His eyes are locked on the floor.

"Darry, I'm scared," he finally says.

"Why?" I ask.

"I really, really don't want to leave. I'm scared that Soda won't get better, I'm scared that the court with think that you're good enough to take care of us. I'm scared that something really bad is gonna happen to me" he explains .

"Pony," I begin. I place my arm around him and pull him close like I used to do when he was little. " Soda's gonna be just fine, he's coming to court with us today, remember?They wouldn't let him come with us if he thought that he couldn't do it, right?" I say, trying to comfort him a little.

He nods.

"And don't worry about court, okay? Let me worry about that," I say to him, hoping that he believes me.

He looks up with a worried look in his eyes. " But how do you know? How can you say that everything is gonna be just fine?" he says to me.

I shrug, " You just got to believe it, Ponyboy, and I believe that we will be a family again like we used to , okay. Just keep telling yourself that it's going to be okay."

He looks away, obviously not happy with my response, but eventually he nods in agreement.

"Okay," he whispers.

"Okay," I say back.

I feel him rest his head fall on my chest and I pull him closer. With one arm around his shoulder, I rock him a little. In my arms I feel him shaking, and I know he's crying again. This time I don't tell him to stop.

Instead, I rest my head on top of his and cry, too.

Two-Bit's Point to View:

Tuesday, 1:11 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 212

"Hey everybody," I say as I walk into Soda's room. Pony's sitting in the brown chair beside Soda's bed and Darry's standing by the bathroom door with his arms crossed. He leans against the wall, he nods his head to me when I enter the room but don't say anything else.

"Where's Soda?" I ask as I take the folded chair over by Ponyboy and take a seat.

"Bathroom; changing," informs Darry.

I nod.

"So that's why you're guarding the bathroom?" I ask.

He nods.

I chuckle.

"If you're that concerned, why don't you just go in?" I suggest.

"He says that he can do it by himself."

"Darry, he woke up _yesterday_," I say.

Darry shrugs.

"You know that I can hear you, right?"Soda calls from the bathroom.

We all smile.

There was silence in the room.

I take in a deep breath and sit back.

"Today's gonna be a long, long day," I whisper to myself.

I hear a door open and I look up. Soda walks out and instantly Darry is by his side, helping him get to the bed.

"Darry," he begins but isn't able to finish, he was cut off by Darry.

"Soda, weather you like it or not, the doctor says you need help," tells Darry.

Finally they make it to the bed, Soda sits down and sighs. He lays his hands on his stomach and lets out a shallow deep breath.

"You okay?" Pony asks, shifing in his seat.

"Stomach," he answers without moving.

Pony looks over at Darry.

"You want the doctor?" asks Darry already making his way to the door.

Soda shakes his head.

"It'll go away," he insists.

"Soda….,"Darry starts.

"I'll be okay, Darry, really."

Even though all of us can tell that he doesn't want to, Darry sits down.

Again, there was silence.

"Is Johnny here?" asks Ponyboy.

"Yeah," I say. " He's talking to Dally. But I don't see the point of talking to him, he's a lost cause."

"You talked to him?"asks Darry.

"About a day or two ago," I say.

"He say anything worth hearing?" Darry questions.

I shrug, "The only thing that I see is that he actually feels really guilty about what happened. I don't know why he's taking it out on you," I explain to Darry.

Darry shakes his head. " I don't even care anymore," he mumbles.

I don't say anything, there's nothing to say.

The silence was back.

From the corner of my eyes I see Soda sit up painfully.

"What time do we leave?" he asks Darry. He looks tired now, and I don't understand why the doctor said that he could go to court when clearly he's in no shape.

"About an hour and a half," informs Darry.

He nods by doesn't verbally respond.

"You scared?" asks Darry.

Soda shrugs.

"A little," he admits in a quiet voice.

"Well, just answer everything the best you can and everything should be okay," says Darry.

"How's everyone doing today?"asks Dr. Hafford as he heads to Soda's bed.

"Okay, I guess," tells Soda to the doctor.

nods questionably, he sits down his clip board on the stand next to Soda's bed.

"I'm just gonna check you before you go to court, okay, so just sit back for me."

Slowly, Soda leans back, when finally on his back he takes in a couple of breaths.

"Are you in any pain?"

"My stomach," Soda says, "and my head once in a while."

"Okay."

Dr. Hafford places his hand on Soda's stomach and he flinches.

"Easy now, I'm just seeing where it's most tender," informs .

He pushes on Soda's stomach a little. From his bed, Soda looks at Darry with a worried look. The doctor presses a little higher and Soda pops up.

"Ahhh,' he exclaims, pushing the doctor's hand away.

"Okay, so it's sore there. I'll get you something for that," says . He picks up his clipboard and heads for the door.

"Dr. Hafford," calls Darry, " You're still coming to court, right?"

Dr. Hafford smiles. " Of course, Darrel."

Darry smiles. "Okay, see you then."

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Tuesday, 2: 27 p.m

Tulsa Court House

This place is so big, it's kind of scary, too. I walk with Darry, Soda, Two-Bit, and Johnny into the court. Dr. Hafford said that he'll be here soon, and Dally isn't coming, I guess. I don't know what to expect, so I don't know what to say.

Earlier, Darry, Soda, and me went over a couple of facts that we all needed to have correct, but other than that there was no way of rehearsing because we didn't know what they were going to ask us.

A man in a all white and tan suit walks up to us, "Please follow me," he says to us with an open hand.

He takes us into a room filled with chairs. All of them have people sitting in them. We walk down the isle and through a small door. Two-Bit and Johnny were told to sit behind us and Soda, Darry, and I were told to sit at the table in front of them.

The judge calls for silence and the nightmare begins.

"Order, order. Silence," he says.

The court falls quiet.

"Okay, let's get started."

The man with the white and tan suite stands up.

"I call Darrel to the stand," he says.

Darry stands up and heads to the chair that is placed to the left of the judge.

"Please state you're name for the record," says the tan and white suite guy.

"Darrel Curtis, Jr."

He nods.

"Okay, what caused you to have full responsibility of your brothers?"

"My parents were in a car accident, about two years ago."

"Were you left with any money, or anything that might help you take care of you brothers?"

"Not much, sir," answers Darry.

The guy nods.

"So how do you support you're family, Mr. Curtis?"

"I _have _a job."

"Do you find it hard to take care for you're brothers? Are you comfortable with that responsibility?" he aks.

Darry sighs. "Well, it's not always easy, but we always make it. And yes, I'm very happy to take care of both of them, no matter what," Darry tells the man.

He nods.

"And can you tell me about some of the feelings you might have if the court decides that you're an unfit guardian to your brothers?"

Darry looks over at us. "Anger, disappointment, sadness, nervousness….I don't know. I can't tell you how I'll fell, and I hope I never get the chance to, I don't want to feel those things."

"You said that you'd feel disappointment, who would you be disappointed in?"

Darry looks at us again. " Myself, I guess. I'd be disappointed in myself because you didn't think that I'm able to take care of Soda and Pony."

The man in the can suite nods.

"That's all, Mr. Curtis, please step down."

Darry's Point of View:

Tuesday, 3:27 p.m

Tulsa Court House

"Could we have Ponyboy please take a seat in the witness stand," calls the man in the white suit.

Pony stands up and walks to the chair.

"Please state you're name for the record."

"Ponyboy Curtis," he says.

"Do you know why you're here today?"

He nods. "Yes."

"Please tell the court."

"You're trying to see if Darry can take care of me and Soda," Pony says.

The man nods.

"Do you think that he's able to take care of you?"

"Of course," he says. He looks at me quickly.

" Now I only have a couple of questions for you, okay?"

Pony shrugs, "Sure," he says.

"Can you tell us a typical day at you're house is like?"

Pony takes in a deep breath and nods. " Well, if it's a school day, Darry comes in our room in the morning to wake us up. He makes sure we both shower and get dressed on time and he makes us breakfast. Then, I go to school and Darry and Soda go to work.

After school, if I have track, I stay after, but if I don't I come home. Later Darry and Soda comes home and Darry makes sure that I did my homework, and he checks my answers.

Then later Darry makes dinner or we order a pizza or something like that, then we just hang out for the rest of the night. When it gets too late, Darry makes us go to bed and then the day starts all over again," Ponys says.

The man nods. "Has Darrel ever hit you?"

"Never," says Ponyboy.

"And how would you feel if the court decided that Darrel isn't a good enough guardian?"

"Upset, scared, worried, mad….," Pony says.

"Why would you be worried?"

"Because I don't know what's gonna happen to us. I'd rather stay with Darry," Pony says.

The man nods again, " Please take go back to your seat."

Next up was Two-Bit, then it was Johnny. They both said exactly the right things, they didn't say on word about the beer in the house, they didn't say anything about me and Pony arguing, and they didn't talk about out rivalry with the Soc's. They only thing they told the court was about how great I was, even though some of it was a lie, they damn sure made me look good.

I definitely owe them .

Sodapop's Point of View:

Tuesday, 3:56 p.m.

Tulsa Court House

"Would Sodapop please come to the witness stand," called the man in the white and tan suite.

Slowly, I stand up. With each step I take in a breath, trying to keep the pain in my stomach away.

I sit down and wait for the first question.

"Please stare you're name for the record."

"Sodapop Curtis," I say.

"Okay, I understand that you were recently hospitalized."

"Yes, sir," I say, anticipating

"Can you tell the court what happened?"

"I can't really remember all of it, it's kind of blurry," I say.

"Just try."

I sight, " We were walking one day and then these group of guys jumped out of a van and attacked us." I explain.

"What do you mean my attacked?"

"Well as first is was like they were looking for a fight, but soon it turned into something much more than that. They had isolated me, for some reason and I got it the worst. They kept everyone else away from me, to make sure that they had to way to help me.

They slammed me against the wall and then after that I was pretty dizzy. Then they took me down to the ground and…," I stopped.

Suddenly images rushed into my head. I remembered the guy on top of me, I tried to fight him off, I really did, but I couldn't. The other guys were holding me down, I couldn't move.

I remembered the guy and how he tried to unbutton my shirt. I kicked him as much as I could, but I couldn't get him away. He brought his face close to him and I knew what he was going to try to do. I moved my head back and forth to try to keep my lips from touching his.

I remembered the needle and how scared I was when he jammed it into my arm. Slowly my mind began to freeze and it became harder and harder for me to move, the last thing I saw before everything went black was his face getting close to mine.

"Sodapop," he says getting my attention again.

Tears swell in my eyes and the fall down my face. I brush them away but they came back. I've never actually thought about what happened to me before.

I wipe the tears again but they don't stop.

"Sodapop," he begins in a soft voice. " Were you sexually assaulted by the men who attacked you and you're friends?" he asks.

I put my head down and the tears come faster.

I look back up and I see Darry looking at me with a concerned look on his face.

"Y-yes," I choke out and cry harder even though I hate to cry.

"Okay, I think he's had enough," interjects the Judge.

The man in the white suit nods.

"Please step down," he tells me and I go back to Darry and Pony who stand up. When I was close enough, Darry pulls me into a hug.

"You're gonna be okay," he says to me.

"Okay, court will continue in ten minutes, by then I'll come to a decision," announces the Judge.

Darry's Point of View:

Tuesday, 4:34 p.m.

Tulsa Court House

"Order, order! I've came to a decision," calls the Judge.

I hold my breath and I could swear that my heart stoped beating. I fell Ponyboy grab my hand and I squeeze it, on the other side of me I put my arm around Soda and pull him close.

"Darry….," Pony says in a scared voice. I'm pretty sure he's more scared than I am.

"It's gonna be okay, we're gonna be okay," I say to him .

"I've heard a lot today, and a lot of it was heard wrenching. These boys have been through a lot and in general I see that they need eachother. At a time like this and at the point of their lives that they're in I understand that they are closer than ever.

Darrel Curtis, Jr. has taken care of his brothers for about two years now, with the monthly check-in's of a Social Service agent, and as far as I can see from the reports and from the statements that there brave young men have made, it made my conclusion very easy.

Darrel, please take care of you're brothers, because I order for them to stay under your guardianship," she says.

Pony and Soda turn around and hug me, both are crying. Two-Bit and Johnny comes from behind me and both give me a congratulatory hug.

"Thank you," I say to both of them and they nod in response.

We are all escorted out of the courthouse. Standing at the bottom of the steps was Dally.

Leaving the others at the top of the stairs I walk to him.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

He shrugs, " I had to see if you got to keep 'em," he tells me, " Do you?"

I nod. " Yeah, they stay with me. We have bi-weekly check ups with Social Services. We have family counseling once a week and Soda goes back to the hospital every Sunday. Pony's gotta go to school in no less than a week and a half and I gotta go see if I still have a job," I tell him.

He nods. " But at least you get to keep em,"he says.

I nod and turn around, heading back to Pony and Soda.

"Darry!" he calls.

I turn around.

"I'm sorry," he says.

I nod again, "Yeah," I say. "me, too."

I walk up the stairs again to meet my brothers. I place each of my arms around them and we walk together to the car.

"C'mon," I say, " let's go home."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**FINALLY! LAST CHAPTER! DID YOU LIKE IT? WELL YOU SHOULD BECAUSE YOU VOTED ON WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN. MOST OF YOU VOTED THAT DARRY GETS TO KEEP HIS BROTHERS SO THAT'S WHAT I DID. **

**ANYWAY, PLEASE REVIEW THIS LAST CHAPER. **

**REMEMBER, THE THIRS STORY IS GOING TO BE CALLED "ADDICTED", SO WATCH OUT FOR IT =)**

**OH YEAH, AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO MESSAGE ME IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR JUST WANT TO TALK, I WILL WRITE BACK WHEN I GET THE CHANCE. **

**ANYWAY, PLEASE REVIEW, AND I'LL SEE YOU AS SOON AS I CAN WITH THE FIRST CHAPTER IN 'ADDICTED"**

**YOUR AUTHOR,**

**VFCGurl!**


	26. REVISIONS COMING SOON

HEY, I'M PROBABLY GOING TO BE REVISING AND FIXING SOME OF THE MISTAKES THAT WERE MADE THROUGHT THE STORY, SO JUST BE ON THE LOOK OUT AND IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME SEEING THIS STORY, THEN PLEASE READ AND REIVEW. REVIEWS ARE MY ADDICTION. =)

POSSIBLY GOING TO BE SEEING YOU SHORTLY.

BYE!

-VFCGurl.


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